


#853159

by So_Fucking_Bored



Series: I'm learning to love you, Sofia [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alpha Bruce Banner, Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha Clint Barton, Alpha Natasha Romanov, Alpha Sam Wilson, Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha Thor (Marvel), Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - BDSM, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Drugs, Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, Everyone is Part of the Pack, F/F, F/M, Fuck Cannon, M/M, Mass shooting(later chapters), Misogyny, Multi, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Beta Read, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Original Character(s), Power Imbalance, Spanking, Trigger warning listed in some chapters, Underage Drinking, in some aspects, not really - Freeform, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 115,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/So_Fucking_Bored/pseuds/So_Fucking_Bored
Summary: OMEGA, SOFIA ANNE|PROSPECT PARK OMEGA ORPHANAGE| #853159The capital letters were carved into the metal uniformly, and wrapped around her wrist. On the inside of the bangle, a microscopic chip kept track of her location.She’d worn it for nearly three years, after the one before had gotten too small for her. Sofia couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t worn a state issued identification bracelet, and the skin below the bracelet was pale from lack of exposure.orThe one where sexism is way worse than here, corona is just a fanfic the OC is gonna read and not something people actually deal with, and the avengers try to mate and deal with a Gen Z omega that's over it all.
Relationships: Everyone/Everyone, OFC/Everyone, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson/Thor/Bruce Banner/OFC
Series: I'm learning to love you, Sofia [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016185
Comments: 94
Kudos: 325
Collections: Quarantine Things





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heads up, I have the dates for each chapter in the beginning author's notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/6/2020

The morning air nipped at her, and she felt her nose and ears burn from it as they turned red. Her breath fogged in front of her slightly as she began walking faster, the train station at her back. She buried her hands in the pockets of her barely warm enough coat as she approached the school building. 

The building itself was rather unassuming, and if it weren’t for the name carved into the old grey stone, it could be mistaken for an apartment or office building. 

It was an early March morning, and spring hadn’t yet begun to show, which was evident by the melting snow on the pavement. People walked about hurriedly, the largest concentrations around the stairs that lead to and from the train station below. The sight was normal for an early morning in Downtown Brooklyn, especially as eight o’clock approached rapidly. 

Her backpack was a comforting weight as she crossed the street, narrowly missing a car whose driver hadn’t been paying attention. 

She turned left, unperturbed at the near accident. It happened often enough in such a crowded city that it was near normal. The sight of her school on the corner was more unwelcome than welcome after the long night she had. 

When she reached the corner, the cold metal of the door handle made the skin of her previously warm hand burn uncomfortably, and woke her up enough that her eyes cleared a bit. 

The warmer air hit her quickly as the door shut behind her, but her eyes and other extremities still stung from the cold. She rubbed absentmindedly at her ears, and took off her glasses once they’d begun to fog up. 

The staircase was mercifully near empty, and she was able to stand in a corner on one of the landings while she shucked off her coat and looked disdainfully at her uniform skirt that hung well past her knees. She usually rolled up once she got the chance, but the sight of the long skirt never failed to annoy her. 

What caught her eye for the longest though, was the silver bangle that hung around her wrist. 

It was relatively thin, but the width of the flat medal was large to the point that the words stamped onto it were visible to anyone close enough. 

_ OMEGA, SOFIA ANNE|PROSPECT PARK OMEGA ORPHANAGE| #853159 _

The capital letters were carved into the metal uniformly, and wrapped around her wrist. On the inside of the bangle, a microscopic chip kept track of her location. 

She’d worn it for nearly three years, after the one before had gotten too small for her. Sofia couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t worn a state issued identification bracelet, and the skin below the bracelet was pale from lack of exposure. 

All omegas in the state’s custody wore one, from whenever they were processed, to when they were adopted either by a single alpha or into a pack. Most omegas were processed at birth if their mother didn't have a registered alpha either as a partner, or in the home, and some were in the orphanage because they lost their alphas to one tragedy or another. 

Her situation was that of the former. 

She’d been taken into state custody at birth, and all she had left of her mother was her first and middle names. 

Some days it bothered her, but most days she did her best to push the thoughts from her head. There had been a point in time where she thought about it near everyday, and eventually the thoughts had dragged her into a place so dark the usually inattentive adults around her noticed. After that, they watched her like a hawk whenever they remembered, and Sofia hated the contemplating looks of pity to the point where she forced herself to think about it as little as possible. 

The walk up the stairs to her homeroom was short enough, and the room was busy as usual when she arrived to put her coat in her locker and grab a few books. It was a welcome sight, even to the near completely exhausted omega. 

She left as soon as she had signed in, and made a beeline for the bathroom. 

Sofia was able to get into the bathroom without having to talk to anyone, and glared at her reflection in the mirror as she rolled her skirt to her mid thigh. Her grey eyes were near blank, the bags under them only slightly less noticeable, olive skin pale, and usually voluminous hair limp. 

Her entire being seemed to signal to anyone who passed by that she hadn’t slept well that night, and she knew that no matter what she tried to do, she wouldn’t be able to fix it entirely. 

Her neatly ironed uniform stood out in a stark contrast. She wore a long sleeved white shirt under her regular light blue uniform shirt, the embroidered school emblem to her all carriers catholic school on her left breast, a navy blue skirt that she’d rolled up, thick black stockings, black ballerina flats, and a warm navy blue zip up sweatshirt over it all. 

The immaculate uniform screamed perfection, aside from the white long sleeved shirt, but she knew it wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t take off her sweater. 

The heat in the building hadn’t properly kicked in yet after a weekend of being shut off, and the temperature outside didn’t help. What made it worse, was that she was near always cold, especially when she was tired. 

Sofia sighed at the reflection, and put her backpack back on as the first period bell rang. Monday had just started, and she was ready for the week to be over. 

More so, it was only March, and she was torn between her impatience for her senior year to end, and wanting to start it all over again just to give herself more time. 

All of her friends had graduated already and gone off to college, and though they spent as much time with her as they could, it was hard. 

Her eighteenth birthday was coming up in the next month, which meant that her social worker was putting more and more pressure on her to consider life afterwards. 

So far, she had multiple offers from different alphas, and even a few packs, but none of them were willing to let her finish high school before they wanted to adopt her. To the dismay of her social worker, as well as a few of the others at the orphanage, she’d dismissed the offers. 

Now though, she was beginning to get desperate. Her birthday loomed over her as the time passed all too quickly, and she knew as soon as she turned eighteen the pressure on her to agree to an adoption offer would grow tenfold. 

College was out of the question, and she knew that her high school degree was near obsolete, but it was one of the only things she genuinely wanted for herself. Ideally, she wouldn’t have to go through the entire mating process, and while she hadn't completely given up on that fight, for the most part she resigned herself to her fate. 

Most omegas only went to school until their eighteenth birthday, and the odd few didn’t even attend high school at all, though that was rare. 

She’d amassed enough college credits through her AP classes to have skipped most courses a regular college freshman would have to take, and she was at the top of the senior class. Regardless, it was likely that a few months after she graduated -  _ if she even graduated  _ \- that she’d be pregnant and in a relationship with an alpha she barely knew. 

Her classes passed through in a haze, and her eyes kept falling shut throughout them, but it wasn’t until lunch where she let her head fall onto the table and eyes shut. Sleep wouldn’t come, but it was calming to be able to just keep her head in her arms. 

She’d spent the night before on her laptop, taking jabs at random companies. Her goal was to break through as many firewalls as she could in one night, and eventually she’d gotten through so many security systems that Sofia thought it would be good to try her hand at Stark Industries again. 

The last time she tried, she ended up hitting enough firewalls that she was unable to properly disguise her presence, and she worried she’d end up accidentally alerting someone. Last night, she made enough headway that she guessed she would be able to make it through in a night or two. 

By the time Sofia had decided she was too tired to continue on, she only had two left hours to sleep before she needed to be up for school. 

Once she made her way through SI, she wanted to try her hand at getting into government agencies, even though she had already gotten into most of them last time she tried. 

She didn’t have any genuine goals, nor was she looking for anything other than something to occupy her time. Boredom ate at her near constantly when she was at the orphanage, and neither her school work, or the part time job all omegas at the orphanage were required to have occupied her attention. 

Time continued to pass on in a haze, and a soft hand on her shoulder made her lift her head slowly as a soft floral beta scent wafted around her. 

Ms. H was her AP Comparative Government and Politics teacher, and was one of, if not the nicest person she’d met. The beta was one of the younger teachers, and acted like an older sister to most of the girls. Over her time at the high school, Sofia had warmed up to her, especially after she noticed how the beta interacted with some of her closest friends. 

The beta’s brown hair was a curtain covering their faces from the rest of the cafeteria’s. Blue eyes locked upon grey ones and concern and worry drifted faintly from the beta. 

“Go get lunch, and I’ll let you nap in my office during your free okay?” 

It was a meaningless offer, which they both knew. Sofia would probably have ended up sleeping in the teacher’s office two periods later regardless, but the omega only huffed slightly as she straightened up in her seat. 

Everyone in the school had a hard time denying Ms. H, and even the students that weren’t close to her respected her. 

Sofia looked at the three other betas seated at the lunch table. They’d all sat together since freshman year, but none of them interacted with each other if it wasn’t necessary. 

Ms. H nodded at Sofia, before stepping back from the omega and walking towards the other teacher that had senior lunch duty that day. 

Sofia did her best not to drag her feet as she walked towards the now empty food line. 

~~~~

“When an alpha cries, they’re reminded that it's for carriers to do, not alphas. Same goes for beta men. Always been like that, and it always will.”

“That’s why I’m saying that fear is feminized Mister.” Sofia said her tone portraying just how annoyed she was with the man. The second she entered the class, she was just awake enough to argue with her Calculus teacher. 

The teacher in question was on the older side, white, and an alpha. He had ivory skin, and a salt and pepper beard that covered what pictures of him younger showed to be a sharp jawline. 

He would have been attractive if he wasn’t an all around asshole, not just to the few omegas that came in and out of the school, but to the betas as well. His attitude towards carriers was stereotypical to most baby boomers. 

He thought omegas belonged at home, called male omegas girl boys half the time, and didn’t think much better about beta women. All in all, John Peterson was an asshole of an alpha, whose ideas belonged in the 1800s. None of the students liked him, and she’d overheard conversations that said he’d dialed back on his tendencies in the past few years. 

The attitude the other teachers showed him most of the time showed that he wasn’t much better around people his own age. 

His beady black eyes narrowed at her, and she held eye contact even as instinct shouted at her not to. 

“Says the bitch.” 

“I’d rather be a bitch than an asshole, racist, sexist pig, John.”

Alpha anger lashed out through the room in a scent so strong some of the others flinched, and the omega closest to the front of the room reached a hand to his throat to stop himself from baring it. 

Sofia kept eye contact with the man, who didn’t respond, and the sound of the last bell of the day made everyone jump. 

She managed to squeeze herself between a few of the other students, but even in the sea of nearly thirty people, she felt his eyes bore into her. 

The air felt colder than it had earlier that morning, and she rushed into the train quickly to avoid it. Minutes passed as the train showed no signs of approaching, but she didn’t mind much; Sofia definitely did not want to be back home before she had to. 

Contrary to popular belief, Sofia found the train calming. Most of the other omegas she spoke to said all of the smells, sounds, and people in general were too overstimulating. The possibility of overstimulation always lingered at the back of Sofia’s head, but it wasn’t her main concern when she was on the train with her earphones in and strangers around her. 

It was easy for her to blend in with the crowd, because even if they could see the bracelet on her wrist no one would care. It was New York, these people had better things to worry about than an omega on the train. 

_ I need the peanut butter back _

Sofia cursed softly at the message she saw, and mentally went through her schedule for the week. Raya, one of her friends, had gotten her an ID from a beta college student, and they’d used it the weekend before to go out to a club. 

She texted back quickly  _ I’ll get it to the school tomorrow. What about next weekend? _

That next weekend, their friend group had booked an appointment with a tattoo artist to celebrate Sofia’s eighteenth early. They’d all ignored the stark reality that they probably wouldn't be able to celebrate it, and her friends had wanted to pool money to get her the tattoo she’d always wanted. 

Omegas that were in state custody weren’t allowed to get any type of permanent markings, but over the years she managed to find good enough fake IDs at a fair price that the Claire’s down the block from her school let her get her ears pierced. She’d only ran into an issue once on that front, when the piercer had examined her at the time aquamarine acrylic nails, and the sleeve of her sweater rose high enough to expose her bangle. 

That also happened to be the last time she got a piercing. 

Other than that, she had a small stash of clear stud earrings that were small enough not to be noticed unless someone was looking for them which had been its own situation entirely. 

A tattoo was something entirely different, and both her and her friends knew if her future alpha, or alphas had enough of a problem with it, they could all get into serious trouble. Regardless, she’d always wanted one, and her friends had caught on after she mentioned it in passing one too many times. 

_ You can have my cousin’s drivers permit _

Sofia texted back a thumbs up, just as the train pulled into her station. 

It was on the nicer side as far as train stations were concerned, two tracks and a long platform in the middle. Outside of the nearest exit was a street shaped in a circle, with an abandoned movie theatre that had been closed as long as most of the area’s residents had been alive.

The orphanage was a couple blocks past the movie theatre, in a large building that was just passed an overpass. 

The Prospect Park Omega Orphanage consisted of five buildings, four short rectangular buildings equidistant from a taller, cylindrical building. She bypassed the two front buildings, one for processing prospective alphas and the other for processing incoming omegas. An alpha and omega pairing walked out of the alpha processing building to her left, and she averted her eyes as quickly as she could. 

She knew more than anything that she  _ didn’t  _ want that, that she wanted a life of her own, but days like this, she couldn’t help but feel lonely. 

Sofia let out a huff of hot air and walked on toward the center building, where the dormitories were. Behind the dormitories were two more buildings, the one on her right a makeshift school for Omega Classes, and the one on her left an emergency medical unit. 

She pulled out her black keycard and tapped it against the censor that was built into the brick wall. The automatic glass doors opened swiftly, and she walked into the utilitarian lobby. The receptionist barely gave her a head nod, but Sofia was too busy walking towards the elevator and unzipping her coat to care. 

Sofia had a decision to make. 

The residential floors followed the circular pattern, and there were ten rooms, each with a kitchenette, excluding the Den Alpha’s room. Ten of the rooms were arranged in a semicircle, facing an entertainment center that had a flatscreen that only worked half the time, some fairly outdated gaining centers, and a DVD player. Facing that was a plush white couch, that had a few stains everyone pretended didn’t exist. 

The door to the Den Alpha’s room was on the wall next to the entertainment center. 

The entire floor’s walls were painted a soft green that was supposed to be inviting, but it reminded most of the omegas there too much of snot to be inviting. 

Den Alphas were the Omega Orphanages’ equivalent of a Residential Assistant. They were unbounded or widowed alphas, and for the most part they were young. 

The state assigned mainly alphas that had been diagnosed with some sort of PTSD or in the case of the widowed, moderate cases of bond withdrawal. Study after study claimed having the omegas under their care helped them learn to reintegrate into society, and much to her dismay, Sofia had seen for herself the truth in the statement. 

What she suspected the main reason was though, was that the state wanted the omegas in their custody under some form of alpha supervision. 

“Sofia, once you put your stuff down, I have some papers for you.”

Sofia nodded absentmindedly at Chase, her floor’s Den Alpha as she continued past the couches and towards her door. Her black backpack thudded to the floor of her room silently, and she threw her coat in the general direction of her desk chair. 

Chase was silent as he gave her four thick packets of paper, and she ignored the look of pity in his eyes as he did so. Usually, she liked the alpha. He was a former Navy Seal, and probably one of the gentlest Den Alphas she’d ever had. Even more so, he was respectable and always available to them whenever they needed him. 

He said quietly as she started to turn to leave, “You need to renew the laptop before Wednesday.”

Sofia nodded and headed back to her room. 

That laptop was one of the best things she had, she’d managed to break through most of the monitoring systems, and had given herself near free reign over the internet. 

And it still wasn’t hers. 

~~~~

Tony was flustered to say the least. 

The screens in front of him all showed profiles from different omegas that were up for adoption, most of them between eighteen and twenty, and a few that were younger. 

He dismissed most of the younger ones easily, he wasn’t interested in waiting longer than necessary. The decision to even create an application profile for the Stark Pack had been a long and thoughtfully made one, but after it was made the whole pack had been a combination of eagerness and anxiousness that Tony didn’t want to test. 

Officially, the idea had been suggested by Fury, though the idea had been in the pack’s mind for about a year or so before that. It had been a mutual agreement to wait, and now as a pack, they felt secure in not only their roles but their environment as well. 

There were at least two backup teams, if there was an Avengers level threat and they weren’t available, with an additional three back up plans after that. Additionally, construction on the Avengers Compound had finished not too long ago, and the house deeper in the woods Tony was having built for the pack specifically was near finished. 

No one had foreseen the selection being the hardest part, especially Tony. JARVIS was running through algorithm after algorithm, trying to find someone that would best match them personality wise, but either the wait was too long or some other criteria wasn’t fit. 

Hands planted themselves firmly on Tony’s shoulders, and the alpha leaned back with a sigh into his pack mate’s chest. 

“What about her Tony?” Natasha asked quietly, pointing at one of the results from JARVIS’ search. 

It was a seventeen year old girl from the city, and Tony enlarged the profile, unsure how he’d missed it earlier. 

“Sofia Anne, seventeen from Brooklyn, says she won’t go anywhere ‘til after graduation though.” Tony’s eyebrows drew in as he read. Most omegas didn’t mind when they got mated, even though legally, they had to wait until after their eighteenth birthday. 

Natasha hummed in consideration, and motioned at JARVIS to bring it up on a different screen as well so she wouldn’t have to read over Tony’s shoulders. 

The omega was pretty, for sure, but it was the short description that drew the female alpha’s attention. 

At first, it described Sofia like she was the standard, goody two shoes omega. She excelled in the liberal arts, and claimed that history was her passion, though was also interested in computer science. 

An unusual combination as is, but the computer science bit was what struck Natasha as interesting since most omegas tended to make they’re application as close to stereotypical as possible. 

She continued reading to see that Sofia had all As in her classes, and the most recent report card showed that only one teacher had any issues with her. 

The report card comment from her calculus teacher read:  _ Has a combative attitude _ . It didn’t offer any other explanation, and her ninety six in the class showed in a questionable contrast to the comment. 

Natasha filed the comment away for later consideration. She scanned through the medical history next, her eyes automatically drawn to the bolded red letters at the top where it said  _ Moderate to severe mental illness.  _

The omega suffered from suicidal tendencies and depression, and had unmedicated ADHD. 

Natasha spared a glance at Tony, who also seemed to have just read that, and a slow smile spread on her face. 

At one point or another, most of the team had been diagnosed with something along the line, and they were all officially diagnosed with varying degrees of PTSD. As for the omega’s unmedicated ADHD, it wasn’t uncommon since most hormonal suppressants contradicted with conventuales ADHD medications. 

The male alpha spared her a look over his shoulder, the look in his eyes answering her small, inquisitive smile. He pulled up the small photo album on the large screen in front of him. 

Natasha put down the tablet she’d been reading on and stepped closer to Tony. The first picture that showed up was on the more casual side. 

Sofia was wearing a pair of tight black jeans, and a matching black long sleeved shirt that dipped low enough to not leave much of her cleavage to the imagination. Natasha’s eyes wandered down to notice that Sofia was barefoot as well, before they shot up to look at the omega’s face. She was makeup free, save just enough lipgloss to make her lips shine in the camera light, and she wore a small, mischievous smirk. Her grey eyes were fun and teasing as well, though the look seemed to be fake after Natasha looked for long enough. A pair of thick black frames that should have been too large for her face topped off the look. 

The background was a plain white wall on all visible sides, and Natasha realized with a small laugh that there must have been a large fan causing the omega’s brown locks to basically float around her face. 

The next picture was one of her sitting on a stool in front of the plain white background, her right knee crossed over her left. She wore a skirt suit that hugged her impossibly tight. 

Natasha faintly heard Tony let out a shaky huff of air as the scent of alpha arousal permeated the air. 

The omega’s blazer was opened, and the collar of the white button down shirt she wore was pulled open enough to reveal her scent glands, which were small patches of skin on either side of her neck that were visibly smoother than the rest. In this picture, the makeup she wore highlighted her sharp cheekbones, and brought out the purple flecks in her grey eyes. 

Natasha cursed inwardly at the visible indication of what was most likely the omega’s approaching heat as she continued to look at the picture. Sofia’s lips were painted a bright, yet deep red, and an eyebrow was arched in a silent challenge. Natasha’s eyes drifted down the omega’s lean legs and locked on the black patent leather heels she was wearing. 

Natasha made eye contact with the picture, and noted the way the omega’s glasses had been slid far enough down her nose that it looked like she was berating whoever was behind the camera. 

Distantly, Natasha realized it had most likely been staged to resemble some form or another of the generic, teacher porno trope. The realization brought a small, intrigued smile to the alpha’s face as she looked back towards her pack alpha. 

Tony muttered something under his breath Natasha couldn’t make out, and gestured for JARVIS to take the profile down from the screen. 

“J tell the others to go to the common room.”

Tony slid from his seat and ignored Natasha’s teasing look as he led the way to the large common room where the others were already waiting. 

JARVIS pulled up the omega’s application on the large TV in the common room without prompting, and Tony settled into a corner on the plush sofa. Clint slumped down at his side, and Tony was too busy bouncing his knee in excitement to pay much attention. 

Clint took one glance at the image and shot from where he’d only been sitting for a few seconds. 

“That one Tony I want that one!” The blond alpha exclaimed loudly, and Tony looked at the rest of the pack, fully expecting Steve’s “She’s an omega Clint, not a toy.” 

Natasha slapped half heartedly at Clint’s knee in reprimand from where she was sitting on the floor with Bruce, their backs pressed against Tony’s legs. 

Tony looked to Bucky, who was usually the most silent when it came to looking at omegas. 

The brunette alpha had his eyebrows drawn in, and his signature  _ I’m thinking harder than I should be _ face on. 

“They’re both right.” 

“Unless she’s into objectification.”

A chorus of “Clint” was said, but the blond only shrugged his shoulders. 

“You can’t keep hoping everyone has the same kinks as you Clint.” Bruce said, and successfully dodged the kick Clint aimed for his head. 

“Bruce is just annoyed no one has a doctor thing Clint” Sam said from where he was sprawled on the floor with his head in Natasha’s lap. 

Bruce’s blush reached his ears, and a scent of slight embarrassment drifted from the alpha, but the overall scent of mirth didn’t dissipate. 

Thor was the one to break the silence, his usually excited attitude always subdued and serious every time they did this. 

“I believe we should review the rest of her profile before submitting our application.”

The rest of them nodded, and Natasha gestured something towards the TV, prompting JARVIS to enlarge the short description portion. 

“If we send in ours, they’ll send us a bigger file on her, but this is all we’ve got for now.” Tony said, his voice getting petulant towards the end. 

“Tony-“ Steve started. 

“I know, I know, I promised no breaking through to the unredacted ones, which is why  _ this _ ,” he emphasized with a wave of his hand, “is so damn short.”

Steve looked away, but didn’t otherwise comment. Tony bristled at the blatant dismissal, and  _ shit  _ that was not a conversation he wanted to have anytime soon. 

After everything, for the most part the pack had settled and recognized Tony as their alpha. Regardless, bumps in the metaphorical road were still common though far less often and more spread out than they had been when Fury first brought them together as a war pack. Tony, much to the surprise of the others, had learned to take it in stride, and with Natasha as his second they kept a tight ship. 

Clint put a hand on Tony’s thigh that served to ground both of the alphas, and drew attention back towards the application on the screen. The blond started to pump out some of those nice, happy Clint pheromones that always made Tony lightheaded in the best way possible. After a second, he could smell Sam doing the same, and his shoulders slumped as the tension left the room. 

“She looks like trouble.” 

The others let out low murmurs of agreement, and even Steve’s attitude had subsided as the rest of their pheromones began to permeate the room. 

The room smelled like his pleased pack, and the calming pheromones that Bruce and Natasha had began emitting in addition to the ones Clint was already giving out helped for the most part. 

“Reminds me of Steve.” Bucky said, and Steve blushed brightly in indignation though his silence was agreement enough. 

“They’re still accepting calls until seven,” Bruce hummed, and as one they looked towards Tony, whose smile was brighter than it usually was. 

Tony looked at where JARVIS had the time displayed on the TV. It was six forty-five, and Tony knew just how he intended to spend the next fifteen or so minutes. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/7/2020-3/12/2020

“Chase, what is this?” Sofia asked as she opened the thicker than normal file he’d given her. 

Chase only shot her a pointed look in silent order to read the file. 

“Chase-I, a war pack? What do you  _ mean _ a war pack?”

He didn’t respond, and Sofia rolled her eyes before looking back down at the folder. This time, she began reading, noticing now that the file itself wasn’t just thicker than normal, but near thrice the size than most of the ones she’d seen. 

She made it halfway down the first page when she looked back up at Chase, whose scent had calmed down from its previously defensive state. Though, she wasn’t really sure if that was what he was actually feeling. 

_ Damn military  _ she thought, remembering how he’d once told her part of his training involved controlling his own scent. 

“Chase,” she started slowly, nervousness starting to bleed into her voice as she kept reading, “I know you read this already, so are you serious?”

The alpha didn’t respond, and Sofia let out a huff of air, and leaned into his side. 

Her room was set up near exactly like the rest of the omegas’, with a bed and dresser against the left wall, positioned so the headboard faced the door that led to the hallway, and the dresser was between the door and bed. The right wall had a small desk pushed against it, along with a microwave, mini fridge, and sink. Directly across front the hallway door was the closet. 

“They’re willing to wait for you to graduate Sofie.” Chase said into her hair, not commenting on how she was eagerly taking lungfuls of his calming scent. 

The Stark Pack was famous, though hadn’t been in the spotlight for some time. It had formed shortly after what everyone called the Battle of New York, when the Avengers Pack was formed. For the most part as she understood, the packs were the same, except Tony Stark was the alpha of the Stark Pack, and Steve Rogers was who led the Avengers Pack into battle. 

“Shit Chase, there’s eight of them.” She said, her voice noticeably uneasy. 

Chase made some sort of calming noise in the back of his throat, and wrapped an arm around her side. Most alphas were huge compared to omegas, and while she was taller than the average omega at five feet, six inches, Chase still towered over her at six feet and seven inches, which was around average height for alphas. 

“Do the interview, don’t make a decision yet. Look at it this way though, you’ll have more computers than you could dream of.”

Sofia nodded, wariness still evident in her face and scent, though Chase’s arm around her and sensible thinking helped. 

“I’ll set up the interview with them before I leave.” She said, but made no move to pull away from Chase who shook his head. 

“Get your laptop, do it now”

Sofia bristled at Chase’s tone, but got up anyways and pulled her laptop out from under a packet of papers. 

She pulled up her account silently after settling back into the half hug that Chase offered her. 

“What about four on Wednesday? I get out at one.” She suggested, nervousness creeping back into her tone at the idea. She hadn’t done an interview with anyone in years, and last time it hadn’t ended well. 

The alpha had been near ancient in his old age, and she was only thirteen and near fresh from her first heat. To top it all off, he’d used his alpha voice on her the second she’d said something he didn’t agree with. 

Chase seemed to read her mind, either that or the nervousness in her scent had begun to mix with apprehension. Usually she was better at keeping her emotions from bleeding into her scent, but the memory always impacted her scent every time it resurfaced. 

The calming alpha pheromones thickened, and his hand around her side raised to press gently on the scruff on the back of her neck. The soft, stretchy patch of skin was pliable under the pressure, and he pressed just hard enough that she was calmed near instantly. 

“That’s pretty soon, but I can make it.”

The rest of the process was anticlimactic, and when it was done, Chase left her to finish packing for the weekend. 

She threw the last few things into her bag quickly, a jar of peanut butter being the last thing. Her phone rang just as she sat back on the bed, and she answered Raya’s call eagerly. 

_ “Hey, me and Jake are downstairs” _

“Alright I’m coming down now.” Sofia said as she grabbed her bag, her worries over the upcoming interview replaced with an anxious excitement at the tattoo she’d be getting. Knowing Raya and their other friends though, it was a very real prospect that she’d end up not remembering half the night. 

After she said her goodbyes to Chase and the others on the floor, Sofia went into the elevator, and was greeted by the sight of Jake and Raya waiting for her at the receptionist's desk.

Jake, the dark skinned, hulking alpha at her friend’s side, was Raya’s boyfriend of two years now. He was an alpha of few words, and everyone knew from the way both him and Raya cheated on each other constantly, that the only reason they were in the relationship was so he could sign Sofia out of the orphanage when needed, and so Jake wasn’t single. 

Before her friend group trusted him enough, Ryan - an older cousin of one of the other betas in her friend group - had signed her out, but after her GPS told her social worker and her former Den Alpha she’d been somewhere else, he was permanently barred from signing her out. The incident had been a catastrophe from start to end, and the second she was able to get her hands on a laptop, Sofia taught herself how to reroute the location on her bracelet to where she was supposed to be. 

“Remember Sonya, urine test as soon as you get back.” The receptionist said, and Raya was unable to stifle her laugh. 

“Yes, Karen-“

“My name is not Karen.” Sofia looked at the forty something year old receptionist, took in the orange tinted skin from fake tans, the short hair and bad dye job, and mentally patted herself on the back for being able to recognize a Karen so easily. 

“And mine isn’t Sonya”

The trio walked out, and towards the train station a few blocks away, Jake a silent presence behind them. 

“Kiara, Lisa, and Rose are at Lisa’s houses already, and Jake’s gonna take Shelby to his place.” Ray said as they swiped their metro-cards, and Sofia nodded along with Jake, though they both already knew the plan. 

They got on the train together after a blessedly short wait, and Sofia took out her prized laptop to hand to Jake carefully. 

“Be careful with Shelby.” Sofia said, nervous even though they’d done this dozens of times before. 

Jake rolled his eyes, but nodded anyways. 

Sofia had found a way to connect the GPS on her laptop to the one on her bracelet, and override it, making readings show that she was quite literally, wherever her laptop was. It was one of the few things she’d done that she never regretted, and it gave her mostly free reign. The only things she couldn’t do was go too far out of city limits or it would start to glitch. 

They all got off the train to transfer at the stop she usually used for school, but got on separate trains. Once they boarded the second train, Raya turned to Sofia, and leant towards her to whisper in her ear. 

“We should have fun on Lisa’s couch again once everyone's asleep.”

A shiver went down Sofia’s spine at the memory of what had happened last time they’d had  _ fun _ on Lisa’s couch, and she could tell from the smile on Raya’s face that it didn’t go unnoticed. 

“Don’t throw up like at Rose’s house then, and we’ll see.” 

Raya pulled as far away from Sofia as she could in the overcrowded train car, and laughed. 

Sofia rolled her eyes fondly, and they didn’t say much else for the rest of the train ride as they stood holding onto the poll. 

When they got to Lisa’s house an hour and a half later, Sofia was greeted by the sight of her friends who were already dressed and ready to go. 

Lisa was the only one of them to live alone, and they usually all camped out in her living room on nights like the one they were about to have. She was also coincidentally the oldest, and wore the role of mom friend with pride. 

Sofia greeted them as she rushed to the bathroom to shower. Ten minutes later, she was applying the scent hiding lotion that matched the soap she’d just used, then started dressing. 

She folded the long sleeved black v-neck shirt over and around her bracelet to keep it from sliding around, and slid into a pair of ripped blue jeans before starting her makeup. 

The sounds of conversation drifted in through the open bathroom door, and occasionally she’d pop her head out to contribute. 

Her neck burned where she put makeup on top of her scent glands, but she was used to it after so long, and it took her less than an hour to get dressed and ready. 

“Okay, so we get the tattoos, it's only eight-ish so we’re good, then we come back and get high, then food, then we open the bottles. Okay? Okay. Now let’s get this bitch a tattoo.” Lisa said loudly, and the others cheered as they left the apartment and walked the few blocks towards the tattoo shop. 

When they got there, an alpha around Chase’s size was sitting behind a desk. He looked the part of a stereotypical tattoo shop owner, from his black leather clothes, long hair, and pierced face. Tattoos covered nearly every visible part of his body, and some part of Sofia eased when she noticed how nice they looked. 

“Good evening, my name is Tate,” the alpha started, and Lisa and Raya took Sofia’s hands and bee lined for the desk, “I personally don’t work on carriers, but the owner of the shop does, so if I can take down your information and ideas now he’ll be with you shortly.”

The three of them handed him their IDs, and Lisa pulled out a paper from her jacket pocket. The alpha nodded, and turned to walk to the back. 

The three walked back to where Kiara and Rose had distractedly started walking around and looking at the pictures that lined the walls. 

About a half an hour passed of the five of them standing there before a short old man named Stan came out, his white hair in tufts around his head and his hands surprisingly steady. 

He smelled like omega when he got closer, and the scent calmed her as he pressed the tattoo gun to her hip and started to ink the words into her skin. 

_ Haga lo que te da la gana.  _ It read when he was done, the short phrase in Ms. H’s handwriting. 

It was a reminder for her, to do what she wanted in life rather than to let the people around her dictate her decisions. She’d thought of it not too long ago, when she’d heard a similar phrase in a song she was listening to. 

When he was done, the area was streaked in blood, but the smile on the old man’s face and the matching ones on her friends’ brought one to her own face as she stood up from where she’d been reclining. 

Raya took her spot after a few minutes, and about another hour or so passed between then and Lisa getting tattooed before they left, Rose and Kiara not wanting one just then. 

The walk back to Lisa’s house was filled with conversation on all ends, and as they arrived, everyone seemed to be in a good mood. 

She settled in next to Rose as Lisa and Raya started rolling, then held it up to her mouth when they prompted her too. 

After the first few pulls kicked in, she wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she found herself straddling Raya’s lap, kissing the other girl clumsily. 

“Stop being gay I’m hungry.” Rose said, and Sofia pulled away from Raya who pouted at the omega though clambered up alongside her. 

She wound up walking with her hand in Kiara’s, the two of them laughing giddily as they walked the few blocks towards the pizzeria closest to Lisa’s house. The streets were characteristically loud for a Friday night in queens, and Sofia’s addled mind raced uncontrollably as she clung to Kiara’s hand. For her, this was the worst part of being high, but she knew that once they were back inside somewhere, she’d be better. 

By the time she’d ordered food, her friends having paid for her as a part of her birthday gift, she was significantly calmer than when they were out in the street. The calm and intoxicated happiness intensified when she sandwiched between Kiara and Raya. 

Food was passed around the table where the group of five sat squished together. Rose had calmed from the weed, and sat quietly with a dopey smile on her face. Her normally light hazel eyes had red tinted all around them, and her caramel cheeks were flushed. She’d pulled her curly hair into a messy bun so she could eat without it getting in the way, and snuck longing glances at Kiara in between bites of pizza. Kiara likewise, was rambling about what she thought were the secrets of the universe. Her pale cheeks were a fiery red, and so were her ears. Her pert nose scrunched up occasionally in thought, though for the most part her facial expressions were hidden by a curtain of thick bright red hair. 

Lisa was the only one mostly unaffected, having elected not to have as much as the others so she’d be able to navigate the city streets easily. Her tight curls were pulled into a single puff on her head, and her near black brown eyes were bright with laughter as she shoveled food into her mouth. Raya on the other hand, was completely  _ gone _ . Her black hair was pulled into a neat, tight ponytail, and her bright red lipstick was smudged around her lips from the earlier kissing, and current eating. Her caramel skin was warmer to the touch than usual, and she’d rolled the sleeves of her green sweater up to her elbows. 

The food was finished faster than she wanted it to be, but a look at Raya’s red, smudged lips made her eager to get back to Lisa’s apartment. It wouldn’t be long after that before the liquor started flowing, and once she got a few drinks in, Lisa wouldn’t care at all what Raya and Sofia were doing. 

What Sofia could have sworn was around an hour between when the food finished and when they got up to leave, was only around twenty minutes according to her phone. Raya slid a hand into her back pocket as they made the short walk, and Sofia laughed, running quickly to hide behind Lisa with a squeal. 

From behind her, she heard Kiara make a shocked noise, and looked back to see she’d been pressed against a tree by Rose, the smaller girl lifting up on her toes to kiss her. 

Lisa made a sound of disgust and left Sofia’s side to pull Rose away from Kiara by her hair, ignoring the way the shorter beta swiped at her.

From the corner of her eye, Sofia noticed an alpha, much more sober than her and her four beta friends, looking up and down each of them. Fear slithered down her back, and she walked back towards Raya to grab the girl’s hand. 

Distantly, she realized that if she got too scared, the smell of omegan fear would eventually overpower the scent suppressors she had on. Raya seemed to remember that before she was able to say it though, and looked at the alpha who was still appraising them like pieces of meat. 

Raya pulled her away gently, and shot Lisa a look. Lisa followed the two of them, Rose and Kiara next to her. Thankfully, the alpha didn’t follow them, and only sneered at Raya before he turned away and walked towards a train station. 

When they made it back to the apartment some time later, the first thing Sofia did was go to the bathroom and use a washcloth to wash off the makeup from where it concealed her scent glands. 

She was still high, but as she threw the washcloth in the sink and went to where her friends were sitting on the living room floor, she found it was easier to think than before. 

Lisa had set out a shot for everyone, and the deck of Cards Against Humanity. Sofia took a seat between Raya and Lisa, and cheered along with them as she downed the shot. 

~~~~

The Stark Pack had left their home upstate once the notification that Sofia wanted an interview with them had come, and were in the previously unoccupied Avengers Tower for the first time in nearly five years. 

The city was just as they remembered it, and the possibility that they would stay there until June if the omega wound up mating them was on the table. It wasn’t perfect, but they all agreed that it would be better than being hours away from her for a few months. 

What wasn’t expected though, was for Coulson to call them and ask Clint and Natasha to investigate a security breach in Prospect Park. The breach had been on the minds of most government officials for a week or so, and even Stark Industries had fallen victim to the hacker. 

Needless to say, even though Tony hadn’t been excited at the thought of them leaving so close to their interview, he wanted to get to the bottom of it just as badly as Coulson. 

The car ride there was quick for the two alphas, and Clint cursed colorfully when Natasha pointed out that it was the omega orphanage that Sofia was at. 

His unease only strengthened when the receptionist had called down someone named Chase. They’d done their research on the male. He was an honorably discharged Navy Seal that had done two tours in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The reason behind the discharge was left redacted, but he just guessed it had something to do with a deteriorating mental state. 

Clint glanced at Natasha, only to see that she was just as, if not more uneasy at the situation. 

The receptionist passed them a packet of papers Clint didn’t bother reading, and both he and Natasha looked towards the elevator at the wrong moment. 

~~~~

Sofia suppressed a groan as she sipped at her coffee on Sunday afternoon. The sun was obscenely bright, and the train station was too loud for her even as she let her head rest on Raya’s shoulder.

Jake had met them at Metro-Tech so that they’d show up at the orphanage together. 

The alpha had taken one look at her, and said “You look hungover as shit, Sof.”

She’d growled at the alpha half heartedly, and heard Raya mutter something from behind her as they boarded the train. 

The train ride was only twenty minutes, and relatively empty since it was a Sunday. Before she was ready, her coffee was empty, and Jake was distractedly signing his signature on the sheet the Karen had shoved in front of him. 

She’d been waiting for the elevator doors to open when Chase walked out, and wordlessly grappled her arm and turned her back around to stand in front of the desk. 

“Later,” the alpha growled in her ear, “we’ll talk about why you’re so  _ fucking  _ hungover.”

Sofia gulped nervously, and fidget beside Chase, who was talking to the receptionist. 

She opened up her phone and pulled up the group chat. 

_ S: Send help Chase grabbed me before I showered _

_ R: FUCK _

It was the only response she’d gotten, and she couldn’t help but fidget even more, unsure of whether she wanted to try and run upstairs, or even back outside. A firm hand on the back of her neck made her look up to see Chase next to her and two alphas in suits in front of her. 

She breathed out a curse as she took in their forms. They towered over her, the one on the left was a blond male, and the one on the right a shorter redheaded female. What made it worse, was that they were both from the Stark Pack. 

Sofia did her best to nod as she willed herself not to laugh at the incredulity of the situation at hand. Chase’s scent had soured in a way it only did when it meant he was  _ Pissed _ with a capital ‘P.’ 

No one said anything for a minute, and Sofia fought as hard as she could not to squirm and to keep her scent from showing her nerves, though if the way Chase’s grip on her neck tightened was any indication, she failed spectacularly. 

“So,” she started, on the verge of nervous laughter, “is anyone gonna say anything? Or are we gonna stand here?” She said, only for the three alphas to look down at her. “Yeah, hey me I know it must hurt your necks to look down here but uhh-yeah.” She trailed off. 

“Just how much weed did you  _ have _ ?” The blond alpha male asked, and she racked her brain for a minute before remembering his name, Clint Barton. 

“Actually, I didn’t have any since ya know we’re not-“ Sofia was cut off as Chase shot her a withering glare that made her shoulders curl slightly inwards. 

“My first guess was alcohol rather than marijuana, but either works.” The redhead asked before dipping her chin and saying “Natasha, and he’s Clint.”

Chase nodded, and released his grip on her neck to shake the alphas’ hands. Sofia wasn’t sure if she was relieved that they didn’t offer her their hands, or annoyed at the slight dismissal. 

“This looks like alpha business, I’ll just go-“ this time all three of the alphas shot her a  _ what the fuck  _ look, “or not, ya know.”

Chase blinked slowly, like he was considering what to do with her, or if he should do anything in the middle of the lobby. 

“We actually are here on business, but I’m afraid it involves you.” Clint said, and Sofia mentally wracked her brain for what she could have done that the government would have involved themselves. Her eyes widened slightly when it clicked, and Natasha looked at her in a way that meant the redhead noticed. 

Just last week, when another bout of insomnia had hit, she’d burst through government firewalls, and made the rash decision to leave messages that all said  _ you had one job and I still got in.  _

Sofia mentally steadied herself, she was a  _ good  _ liar, she always had been, and if anyone could get out of this it was her. 

“Alright, well, I’ll do anything I can to help.” Sofia said, her voice surprisingly steady, though still with the hint of nervousness that had been there before. 

“Thank you, but for now we just need your laptop.” Natasha said, and the alpha’s green eyes made her feel exposed in all the wrong ways. 

Sofia scrunched her eyebrows in what she hoped was a convincingly false confusion. 

“Okay, but is there any other way? All of my school work is on here.”

Chase gave her another withering glare, and she gave him one in return. 

“It's Shelby, Chase.” She said, and did her best to give him the look that usually preceded her getting what she wanted. Chase however, was beyond the point where she could convince him to do anything, and didn’t stop glaring at her. 

She shrugged her backpack off her shoulder, and pulled the laptop out, her phone in her hand. 

“I’m gonna yeet myself off the Empire State Building if I can’t check out another one Chase.” The alpha in question only rolled his eyes at her, and to her relief his scent eased up slightly. 

Before any of the alphas were able to notice, she passed the laptop over and sent a text on her phone. 

The effect was near instantaneous. The laptop started smoking in Clint’s hand, and he dropped it as the three alphas looked at her. Natasha took a step towards her, and Sofia ran before she realized what was happening. 

She slipped through a side door and basically flew down the few blocks it took her to get to the train station. She heard an angry growl from behind her, and only ran faster, weaving between people and then down the stairs. 

Fortunately for her, someone was using the emergency door, and she heard a train approaching. Sofia slipped through the door as the sounds of shouting reached her ears, then down another flight of stairs and onto the train. 

She was met with the sight of a near out of breath Natasha when she looked back to the door, and gulped audibly. Sofia slumped into a seat, pressed her palms to her eyes so she wouldn’t cry. 

_ What the fuck was she supposed to do now? _

~~~~

Hours passed, and she switched between trains robotically before she eventually found her feet dragging her towards the G train. The area around was swarming with cops, and what she guessed was SHIELD agents. 

Quietly and quickly as possible, she made her way to one of the outer buildings, and slid in through a ground level window. From there, she made her way into the underground tunnels that connected all five of the orphanage’s buildings. 

The tunnels were largely unused, and smelled like dust and mold. The cold grey stone on either side only added to the fear that had begun to take hold of her, and Sofia shivered violently as she walked. 

She made it into the dormitories easily enough, and showered before sitting on her bed, her knees tucked tightly into her chest. 

That was how Chase found her some time later, her wet hair still clinging to her skin. Her Den Alpha had closed the door slowly before he took cool, measured steps towards where she sat. 

Chase gently, yet firmly pulled her chin from its spot on her knees, and used his grip to turn her head this way, and that.  _ Inspecting _ her, she realized with a flush. 

She met his eyes tentatively once he’d stopped, only for him to growl at her sharply. Sofia dropped her eyes to stare at a spot on his chest, but didn’t move otherwise. The scent of omegan fear and alpha anger was thick enough for her to taste it if she breathed too deeply. 

When Chase spoke a minute or so later, his quiet tone sounded thunderously loud in the room. 

“Is there anything else I need to know?” 

Sofia felt tears fall from her eyes, as she realized just how much was about to change. She tried to nod, but Chase was still holding her chin tightly. 

“There’s fakes and drinks in the peanut butter, and a pen,” Sofia glanced up at Chase but didn’t meet his eyes. Gone was the easy going Chase who she saw as a brother. His anger had turned his eyes alpha red, and he reminded her of an angry alpha from a horror movie. 

Tears had started flowing freely from Sofia’s eyes, and she looked back at that spot on his chest. Shame and embarrassment overshadowed the fear in her scent, and she took a breath that was meant to be steadying before continuing. 

“I was in Queens, not-not Sunset, an’ I had sex” she took another steadying breath, “and I have ear piercings, and I got a tattoo.”

The scent of fear permeated the room again as Chase growled lowly and jerked her chin up, forcing her to meet red eyes. Unease flowed through Sofia, but she didn’t move until Chase let go of her chin like it had burned him. 

She tucked herself back into her knees, but didn’t take her eyes off of the now pacing alpha. 

“Do you remember the last time we were here Sofia?” Chase asked in a measured voice, and Sofia flinched bodily. The last time Chase had punished her was  _ because _ she’d had sex, and she’d been uncomfortable for days after. What made it worse was that she’d had sex with Raya. 

She nodded hastily when Chase paused in wait for an answer, and before she realized what was happening, he’d sat next to her on the bed and flipped her over his lap. 

~~~~

Wednesday afternoon came faster than she was ready for. She was sitting in one of the standard interview rooms in an outer. Building. Her social-worker, a beta woman named Anna was on her left, and Chase sat on her right. 

The Stark Pack sat across from her, all in perfectly pressed suits. It was intimidating, to say the least. They looked every bit the role the media portrayed them as, but at the same time there was something about them that made Sofia calm slightly. 

Up until now, her days had been filled with random room searches, and police interrogations. 

As tradition mandated, Tony spoke first in a calm and steady voice, and introduced himself as well as his pack. Sofia felt herself settle without realizing it. She’d come across every member of the pack at one point in the past week, and the reminder that they were still willing to adopt her was refreshing. 

Conversation flowed as expected for the most part, then “So, about you graduating high school,” Tony said, and Sofia felt herself hold her breath without realizing it, “we are willing on the condition you move in with us after your eighteenth birthday. If you agree, the pack will be staying in Stark Tower until then, and afterwards most likely we will move back to our home upstate.” 

Sofia blinked slowly, but before she responded the alpha continued. 

“Our home upstate is rather isolated, so if anything it would be possible for you to take online classes to pass the time if that’s something you’re interested in.”

“Are you dead ass?” 

“Dead what?” Tony asked, confusion tinting his scent slightly, but he shook his head before Sofia could respond and continued talking. 

“Alright uhh, your profile said you were interested in a litter or two down the road? Any clue what your litter size might look like?” He asked, and Sofia mentally shook herself awake. This, she could do, not talks about a future she never even dared to imaging. 

“No, I haven’t done the exam yet.” Tony nodded, and her eyes drifted over the rest of the pack. Their scents were rather impassive, but their expressions all had varying degrees of interest and hope. 

“Okay, so I’m guessing birth control until then?”

Sofia nodded, but didn’t respond verbally. 

“If it fails?” He asked, and something in his eyes told Sofia this would be one of the deciding factors. 

“Then we have a pup? Or pups?” Sofia said, her tone tentative. 

Tony nodded, with a small smile on his face before he continued.

“Do you know when your next heat will hit?”

“I’m on behavioral suppressants since I can’t get the good stuff yet, and I’m going off them over spring break so I can start adderall for my finals, I’m due for spring break too. I think that’s the beginning of April.” Her suppressants weren’t the best, they only really stopped the emotions and general hornienss that came with heat, not any of the physical effects, but they interacted badly with the adderall she’d need to be able to study for all the tests she had coming up in May and June. 

“And your birthday is the twenty-eighth right? Okay, past sexual partners? It’s not a deal breaker just making sure because we didn’t see anything about STD tests.” 

Face flushed at the unexpected bluntness of the question, Sofia looked to Chase, who only gave her a look that said  _ well answer _ . Her social-worker looked like Sofia’s answer would either make her sigh in relief or cry from fear. 

“Well, I got tested off the books uh - a few months ago but, no-not recently. My body count isn’t even that-I’m gonna shut up now.” Sofia cut herself off from her babbling, only for Natasha to cut her off, speaking for the first time. 

“We didn’t see a criminal record.”

Sofia’s eyes widened in shock, and when she looked at Chase, he only shook his head, wordlessly telling her to figure it out. 

“I-I didn’t  _ kill _ anyone.  _ Shit _ . I meant my  _ body _ count not my body count-“ She cut herself off with an embarrassed groan and hid her face in her hands. 

“I-okay, new topic. We’re fairly modern, but we think it would be best if you took the mating bite from all of us should you agree to be our mate.”

Sofia blinked slowly and nodded without responding. It was a fairly outdated practice, but that was just because most war packs disbanded after they left the war itself. In a war pack, the alphas all took an omega mate, usually one, but sometimes two. Furthermore, there were no betas in a war pack, which gave them a reputation as brutal and barbaric. Sofia was fairly sure that if they hadn’t been a war pack, she’d have agreed to the mating before even mating them just, if only so she could graduate high school. 

She made eye contact with Sam, or well  _ Falcon _ , and felt something settle in her chest. 

About another half an hour or so passed before the interview was done, and Sofia left with Chase while the social-worker stood to discuss more logistics. 

“Chase, I-I think I’m gonna do it.” She said quietly, and Chase wrapped an arm around her.  _ College. _ She could get a  _ college degree.  _

Chase walked her back to the dormitories, the sun warm on her face, uncharacteristic for this time of year. 

~~~~

“Holy shit Jay, tell the others to come here” Tony shouted, then jumped from his seat and did his victory dance as the others started filing in. 

It was the day after their meeting with Sofia, and the pack had been on edge since. 

Now though, happy tears were all around the room, and they scented each other wildly as they read the notification one by one. 

Sofia had said yes. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/14/2020-3/15/2020
> 
> So here it is ladies and gentlemen, chapter 3. Short as fuck, but honestly I had no clue what to write for this, also just because I don't think I explain it too well in the story, mating books in this au are basically parenting books. They're how to guides for alphas on their omega mates.

Sofia was nervous to say the least. It was mid-morning on Saturday, and she’d barely been able to sleep the night before. Excitement warred against nervousness in her stomach, and she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to shrivel up under her blankets for fear of what might happen, or bounce against the walls. 

Instead, she settled for the closest middle ground she could get, and started cleaning. Before she realized it, she’d opened the closet door and started tidying up the nest. Most of the omegas in the orphanage kept their nests in the closet, where the walls were tight enough that nothing out of sight could happen. Her nest was small, but plentiful, full of sweaters from her friends, her favorite blankets, a few pillows, and some stuffed animals. 

Without meaning to, she started pulling things from it and rearranging it, and by the time she was done it looked like a picture perfect nest. It lined the bottom and some of the sides of the small closet, and sloped downwards at the where the closet door would close so she could enter easily. There were more colors than she could count in there, but all of their fabrics was so  _ fucking _ soft that she nearly called off the date and curled up in it. 

She shook off the thought nearly as soon as it entered her mind, and closed the closet door harder than she should have. Looking down at the few items she’d taken from her nest, she realized ruefully that most of it was stuff she’d taken from Raya. 

Sofia snorted, but just put the sweaters in in a bag that she ended up shoving under her desk. It seemed her hindbrain had realized Raya was bad news, especially after the spanking she’d gotten from Chase combined with the fact that she was about to go out and meet her actual soon to be mates. 

By the time she was done, her room was picture perfect, and she was mentally racking her brain for how she was supposed to get those sweaters back to Raya without seeming like an asshole. Just looking at them too long made her want to bare her teeth and rip them to shreds, but she knew that would only make her more rational side feel like shit in the long run. 

Eventually, she ignored the plastic Rite-Aid bag in favor of sitting in front of the small mirror she kept on her desk and silently freaking out. Her grey long sleeved shirt was carefully tucked under her bracelet, and as she adjusted her clothes, she was careful not to let it get covered, especially after the trouble she’d get into for hiding it. She wore dark wash blue jeans, and had her shirt tucked into them, and had on a pair of black high top vans. 

She flinched bodily when a knock on her door sounded throughout her room, but got up to open it anyways. 

Chase was standing there, and though she knew it’d be him, some part of her slumped in disappointment. 

“Shit Sof, you got it bad.” He chuckled, and rolled his eyes as he glowered at him. Some part of Sofia realized he was right, that she’d been acting like a lovesick omega even before then. 

“I’m being ridiculous aren’t I?” 

“No, you’re being normal, now stop smelling like you’re about to shit your pants and let’s go. They’re downstairs.”

“The volume inside of this bus is astronomical Chase.” Sofia said, laughing away her nervousness at Chase’s confused look. 

“No more TikTok references, they’re getting weird.”

Eons seemed to pass as they waited for the elevator, and Chase kept shooting her those sickeningly sweet indulgent looks he reserved for when he thought they were being especially adorable. 

Once the elevator arrived, the ride seemed longer than the wait. 

“They’re rich Sofia, so remember. Make his pockets hurt.”

“Chase you are way too old for that kind of language!” Sofia half shouted, and the elevator doors opened to reveal the Stark pack waiting for her. 

She gave Chase the most burning glare she could muster as they stepped out of the elevator side by side, and let her gaze wander over the alphas in front of her. 

Thankfully, they all seemed to be dressed casually in jeans and t-shirts, with different kinds of jackets on. She smiled at them shyly, and willed herself to be as open as possible about them. 

Tony smiled and gestured for her to go towards them, and with one last glance at Chase she went. 

They ended up going into the park, and wandered around for a while. No one paid them any mind, for the most part joggers and nannies filled the roads there, and every now and then there would be some high schoolers. 

“So this is kinda awkward,” Steve said as they walked, silent for the most part. 

Sofia chuckled under her breath, but didn’t otherwise respond. 

“Uh, any plans for your birthday?” Sam asked as a group of joggers ran in the grass. 

Sofia’s cheeks colored at the memory of just  _ how _ she’d celebrated her birthday. 

“No, uh - my friends and I celebrated last weekend.”

Clint’s eyebrows waggled at her, and Tony laughed from beside her. 

“ _ Shit _ , some way to celebrate. Now, honest answers only ‘cause I got money on this. Weed or booze?” He asked, and Sofia felt her face morph to say  _ I can tell you but I sort of don’t want to _ . 

“Anyone have money on both?” She asked, and she heard them start laughing around her. 

“Sofia you just cost me a hundred dollars.” Clint groaned out, but she could tell it was good naturedly. 

“And you just made me four thank you very much.”

Sofia laughed at Sam’s words, but rolled her eyes fondly. 

Thor stopped them after a bit, pointing to a group of benches underneath a large tree. 

“Let us sit, while Sam and I celebrate.”

“I got stuck in that tree ya know.” Sofia offered as she settled onto the bench, Sam on one side and Clint on her other. 

“When?”

Sofia’s eyes lowered as she laughed at the memory that surfaced. 

“It was two weeks ago.” It had been a dare more or less. Her friend Rose had said she wouldn’t be able to climb it, and she’d done so easily. Afterwards, she couldn’t remember how to get down and had been stuck for ten or so minutes before she gave up and jumped. The resulting scrape on her knee had been worth it. 

“Why’d you go up there? It's a big tree.”

“Someone told me I couldn’t get to the top.” Sofia said, answering Tony whose hand was resting on the table intertwined with Steve’s. 

“So you did it and got stuck?”

“Yeah, but I figured it out and jumped.”

Tony rolled his eyes, and Sofia saw Sam’s hand sneak towards where hers rested on the table. She smiled shyly in his direction, and closed the distance, letting his hand engulf hers. 

“Serious question,” Bruce started, and her grey eyes met his brown ones, “we found your social media, and your biography said  _ ‘Eat the rich because its a yeet or be yeeted world and the birds work for the bourgeoisie’ _ I don’t know what most of that means but are we safe, cause we’re kinda all rich.”

Sofia blinked slowly and did her best to not laugh nervously, “That’s my spam page-I-“ she cut herself off at the confused looks she got at the babbling, and buried her face in her free hand to groan. 

“Aww, don’t go hiding from us already,” Clint cooed in her ear, and gently pulled her hand from her face. This close, she could smell warm s’mores that has just been made near a campfire, and belatedly she realized it was Clint. 

She rolled her eyes again, but didn't fight the gentle grip. 

“That page is just for jokes and stuff like that and I don’t have access to the big oven even if I  _ did _ wanna eat y’all.”

“So you’re a communist,” Tony added in a teasing tone, and Sofia shot back, “Listen Mr. Capitalism, I’m not registered because sexism, and even if I was, I'd register as a socialist because I’m classy, and wasn’t Steve the actual communist?” 

Tony blinked, and they all turned simultaneously towards Steve, who was shrinking into Bucky’s side, face as red as a tomato. 

“Shit, Stevie, they ain’t know?” Bucky said, pulling away from a still slumped Steve. 

Steve shook his head, and Tony stared at him and blinked again. 

“Steve what?”

“How did you even find that out? Phillips told me they buried it.” Steve said, sputtering and red the entire time. 

“This guy at the library on Pacific had pictures, said you knew his grandpa or maybe great grandpa? Don’t know but it was with this guy named Pete.”

“You met Peter Cacchione’s grandkid?” 

“He got married?”

“Yeah I think it was that Ukrainian girl from Coney Island.” Steve said while the others looked between him, Sofia, and Bucky. 

Bucky sat back with a soft  _ huh _ , and Steve had stopped trying to melt away, his cheeks back to their normal color. 

“Okay, now that that’s over, whatever that was. How’d last weekend go for you, well before Sunday. I haven’t been to a good party in forever, and I wanna live vicariously through you.” Clint said after a second of awkward tension had passed. 

Sofia took out her phone, reluctant to pull her hand from Sam’s, and said, “I think I have pictures, but honestly I barely remember it.” 

She opened the first picture, and stared at it for a second or two before saying anything. 

“Oh my God yes, so Saturday we had edibles for breakfast right, and when we got hungry we decided we wanted French toast but didn’t have cinnamon so we used fireball.” Clint pulled the phone from her hand, and examined the picture. It was of Rose fiddling at the stove, and Lisa shrugging as she poured half a bottle of fireball into the egg mixture. 

“Sofia, you should be dead,” Bruce said, though he was laughing loudly in shock while he looked at the picture from over Clint’s shoulder. 

They laughed easily as Clint and Bruce flicked through the pictures, and occasionally showed them to the rest of the table. The alphas poked fun at the sparse holes in her memory, and Sofia found herself shocked at how easy it was. 

Naturally, that was when everything went to shit. Clint’s thumb froze from where it hovered over her screen, and even Bruce stiffened up. Sofia leant away from where she’d been leaning against Sam to look over his shoulder, and saw the one picture she definitely didn’t remember taking. 

It was of her and Raya in Lisa’s bathroom mirror. They were pressed against each other with Raya’s chest against her back, but what drew her eye was how she was completely topless, her hand covering a nipple, and Raya’s arm covering the other with the way she needed to reach to take the picture. Raya’s other hand was in between her legs. Her jeans were unbuttoned and pushed around her thighs, showing how Raya was knuckle deep inside her, and exposing the bloody saran wrap that covered the tattoo she’d just gotten. The hand she wasn’t using to cover her breast was wrapped around Raya’s back, and her face was pressed into the beta’s neck. 

Sofia’s arm shot out to take the phone once the image registered, but Clint’s grip wouldn’t budge. 

“ _ Shit _ I don’t even remember taking that man, I don’t even remember doing that on Saturday-“ Sofia cut herself off with an  _ eep _ when Clint began to growl and the scent of angry alpha started to waft off of him, souring the smell of happy s’mores. 

“Holy fuck wait,” Sofia rushed out as she put a tentative hand on his back, “it wasn’t like rape or anything, well it was statutory depending on the state, not New York though so-I, I mean she probably doesn’t remember it either, we were both fucked up, and I woulda-“ Sofia cut herself off again, and the alphas around her all seemed to lose some of the tension she didn’t even notice build up. 

Clint on the other hand, didn’t respond and just kept staring at the picture on her phone. 

“Clint, look I don’t really care if you wanna look at it, but I know a lotta people in this park and they don’t care about the other shit, but they know I’m seventeen and this doesn’t need to get to the press.” Sofia was relying on pure instinct at this point, shifting the grip she’d had on the phone to rub her thumb firmly over the pulse point on his wrist where some of his scent glands were. 

The reaction was instantaneous. Clint dropped the phone like it had burned him, and looked wide eyed at the others. 

“Holy fuck, I just looked at kiddie porn.” Clint whispered harshly, and Sofia grabbed the phone and deleted the picture that was still on the screen as quickly as she could. 

“Legally yes? Personally I’m offended ‘cause I’m eighteen and negative a few weeks.”

“Sofia that is not how age works.” Tony said, while Clint just stared at the now empty space on the table. 

Sofia didn’t respond as her head turned sharply in the direction of a beta male carrying a large speaker. 

“Oh look, it’s Biggie.” The words  _ Biggie Biggie Biggie can’t you see _ had started to become easier to hear as the man got closer, and Sofia thoughtlessly wiggled her shoulders with the rhythm. 

“Whose Biggie?” Steve asked, and Sam shot him a disappointed look at the same time as Sofia did. 

“Go live in Jersey Steve, Brooklyn has officially disowned you.”

Steve choked on air at the comment and even Bucky looked shocked, but Sam only nodded his head along with Sofia’s claims. 

“She’d right Stevie, I don’t know why Jersey though.” The black alpha added. 

The three argued a bit over the importance of Biggie, and eventually Sofia turned to Clint and said softly, “Please stop malfunctioning, it really is okay.” 

She meant it in a way. Ever since she’d agreed to mate them, her hindbrain had convinced the majority of her regular brain that these alphas were the absolute best. Her more rational side was fighting a losing battle, and she had slowly come to terms with the fact that she was more likely than not destined to be sickeningly in love with them before the month was over. 

A few more minutes passed before Clint genuinely rejoined the conversation, and before long they’d started talking about the most random of things. 

Not much past noon, Tony noticed a hotdog cart, and they all settled for an early lunch. The alpha had given her a horrified look when he had found out it was the first thing she’d eaten that day, and shoved another one in her hand. 

She had just glared at him and eaten it. 

“You know, you just look like an angry kitten right?” He asked Sofia as he wiped a drop of ketchup from Steve’s cheek with a napkin. 

She stuck her tongue out at him, and pretended not to notice when he returned the gesture. 

“So,” Sofia said as they started walking back towards the orphanage, her smile teasing but genuine, “am I allowed to have your contact info, or is it the 1830s?”

Tony laughed and shook his head fondly, he smelled so fucking  _ happy _ , like a cannoli that had been made with the utmost care and love, that Sofia wouldn’t believe it if she didn’t know that they all smelled like that. 

“Here, text me,” Then with a wink that sent tingles down her spine, “there's a group chat.”

She offered the alpha her phone, a blush on her cheeks. 

“I’m gonna send you TikToks.”

~~~~

_ Possible Socialist: Nah Brooklyn didn’t change like that. It's still a shitstorm with gangs and mobs and dirty cops and cops that think they’re not dirty but they’re actually dirty because the ones higher than them are dirty _

“Why does that make sense?” Steve asked Sam as he opened the group chat. They’d just finished planning the individual dates between Sofia and the pack members, so that they could all get one-on-one time with her. 

Natasha was going to go back into Brooklyn the next day to pick her up, come back to Manhattan, and take her shopping. After that, none of them would see her until Wednesday, then again Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The pattern would repeat itself the week after, so that they all got time with her before her heat hit. It was a strangely formatted but easy to work with schedule since she got out of school early Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Steve had found himself pleasantly surprised by the omega, and her attitude. Her bluntness was refreshing for him, and the way she’d calmed Clint down earlier that day made something tighten pleasurably in his chest. 

His phone buzzed in his hand, and before he realized it, he was reading the message, dismayed to see it was Bruce responding rather than Sofia. 

“Steve I wish we weren’t all as gone as you, because you’re acting like a lovesick little carrier from a movie.” Sam said, but Steve barely registered the words, his mind on Sofia and distantly, he found pride in just how smart their omega was. 

“Bucky, he’s got hearts in his eyes, look!” The smell of freshly baked challah bread filled Steve’s nose as Bucky leant over him at Sam’s prompting, but Steve didn’t respond. 

Bucky slapped him gently, but Steve was barely able to glare at him as he leaned up to kiss the brunette chastely, the warm and happy apple pie filling the air around the blond and mixing with the freshly baked challah. 

Sam groaned and walked out of the room, muttering under his breath about heart eyed alphas, but he still smelled happy and content. 

Both Bucky and Steve whipped their heads to the side when their phones rang, Steve’s still in his hand, and Bucky’s in his pocket. 

Tony had sent a picture of Sofia in a sea of people. Her right fist was raised in the air, proudly displaying the silver bracelet on her wrist, her left hand was holding onto a male’s. Their joint hands were over their heads as well, showing that he had a bracelet which from their vantage point looked identical to Sofia’s. Her hair was pulled back, and face makeup free. 

Around her, people were holding signs, and looked like they were shouting. Belatedly, Steve realized that she was  _ protesting _ , though he couldn’t read any of the signs well enough to figure out what. 

_ Possible Socialist: LMAO I can’t believe there’s pics of that. U find the ones of me at pride?? _

_ Tony: *image attached* _

Steve blinked twice at the picture that came up on his screen. It was of Sofia again, with some sort of red drink in her hand. She was wearing a rainbow bandana, curls framing the sides. The picture was from the side, and only showed the slightest hint of her face, eyes closed and head thrown back. 

He was half sure that her white shirt was completely see through from the way it clung to her, but what drew his attention was how it stopped under her armpits, baring her upper chest and shoulders. It looked like it was tucked into her shorts, and that was when Steve realized that if he thought the skirt she’d worn in her application picture was short, it had nothing on the pair of shorts she was wearing in that picture. 

_ Clint: Nice panties where tf were the pants _

Silently, Steve agreed with Clint, but he didn’t say anything as another message showed up on his phone. 

_ Possible Socialist: Nah u got it wrong _

_ Possible Socialist: I had on the shorts, and the bodysuit couldn’t fit panties under _

_ Possible Socialist: Also that’s a 3in inseam man who tf has panties with a 3in inseam _

Then, just as Steve was beginning to wonder whether he’d have to ask JARVIS about it, since he’d only heard about it in passing, Thor asked the question. 

_ Thor: What is pride? _

_ Tony: It used to be a protest but it's basically a party  _

Steve sighed at that, realizing he probably would have to ask JARVIS, but a look at Bucky told him the other alpha knew what it was. 

_ Possible Socialist: …….no? _

_ Possible Socialist: It was a riot in 69 I think and it started cause they were raiding gay bars for no reason after it was a parade and now its sorta kinda a party but only to prove that people have the right to party  _

Sofia followed the message up with a link to a website that took Steve to a page that explained what she’d said in depth. 

Tony took a minute to respond, and Steve had a suspicion that they were all waiting to see what he said with baited breath. 

_ Tony: True. Such a sexy omega _

Sam sent an emoji rolling its eyes, but Steve’s eyes were drawn back to the picture Tony had sent. 

It looked like she’d been dancing, though he couldn’t be sure because of the angle. She was pressed up close against the same omega male from the other picture, and her eyes were shut, face tilted towards the sky. He’d never seen her so happy, even in the pictures from the weekend before. 

Some part of Steve was certain they could make her just as happy, while the rest of him was terrified they couldn’t. 

He barely noticed when his phone continued to buzz with incoming messages. 

~~~~

Natasha arrived relatively early, and Sofia met her in the lobby not even a few minutes after. The omega was evidently more nervous than the day before, and though Natasha had a feeling she knew why, she elected to ignore it in favor of smiling softly at the girl. 

They moved towards the car easily enough, and Natasha made sure to sign the forms for taking Sofia out after curfew even though she was fairly sure she’d have the omega back before midnight. 

Natasha hadn’t quite pulled out all the stops when she chose this car from the garage, but she’d pulled out most of them. It was a yellow, 2010 Chevy Camaro. 

“Oh God, is this Bumblebee?”

Natasha laughed softly at Sofia’s excited tone, and nodded. 

“Yeah, the original one from the first  _ Transformers _ movie.”

Sofia continued to stare wide eyed, excitement and awe rolling off of her in waves. 

Natasha followed her to the passenger side of the car, and opened the door for the excited omega who slid in easily. 

“Did you eat breakfast yet?” Natasha asked after she settled into the driver’s seat, having closed the door for Sofia. 

“Uh, I had coffee?” Sofia stuttered out, her eyes still flitting around the car’s interior. 

“Was that a question?” 

“No? I mean, I really did have coffee I just-“ 

Natasha cut her off with a hand on Sofia’s thigh, remembering from all of the mating books that contact was the best way to calm a nervous omega, and a good way to start gaining their trust. 

“It’s okay, I just need to get something substantial in you.”

She watched as Sofia blushed, but didn’t respond, and put the car into drive once the omega had buckled her seatbelt. 

“So, uh where to?” 

Natasha looked at the still blushing omega, and squoze Sofia’s thigh gently without responding at first. 

“Well, there’s food in the mall, so there first. After that, I was thinking clothes shopping, but you can get whatever you want. I’m paying.”

She saw Sofia’s eyes widen at that, and something in her chest tightened against her will.  _ Had no one ever spoiled her before? _

“Oh shit, thanks so much, are you sure I-“

“Sofia,” Natasha said slowly, not even trying to hide the fondness in her voice, “it was my idea. I want to spoil you.”

Sofia didn’t respond to that, but slumped in her seat like she wanted to hide. 

“So, do you like cars?” Natasha asked as they made their way out of Brooklyn, doing her best to ease Sofia into conversation. 

“Oh, not really. I just liked the movies a lot when I was little.” Sofia said, turning back to Natasha from where she’d been staring out the window. “Do you?”

“I appreciate them, but my taste depends on what I’m doing.” Natasha said, and rubbed her thumb in slow circles where it rested on the outside of Sofia’s thigh. 

She felt Sofia shift unconsciously towards her, and repressed a smile at the movement. 

Her grasp tightened slightly without her meaning for it to, the feeling of Sofia’s shudder reverberating through her palm. 

~~~~

Sofia stared at the menu in front of her without really seeing it, the feeling of Natasha’s hand practically branded into her thigh. She’d spent most of the car ride trying not to either squirm closer or further away from the grasp. 

The scent she’d come to associate with the Stark pack was thick in the air of the car, thick with the scent of alpha, and the underlying scent of various sweets. Natasha’s own scent was hard to discern, but whenever she caught a whiff of it, it reminded her of a mix of honey and condensed milk she’d last smelt when she’d walked by a Russian bakery a few years ago. 

The redhead had seemed either like she was ignoring Sofia’s predicament earlier, or like she hadn’t noticed it all together. However, the slight scent of smugness that wafted from the alpha when she breathed deeply enough to notice told her it was the former. 

Sofia didn’t recognize most of the items on the menu, but settled on an omelet that looked more complicated than she would have liked. 

“I don’t come here often, but the food is good. Do you know what you want?” Natasha asked suddenly, making Sofia nearly jump. 

“Uh,” Sofia started, mentally preparing herself to recite her order, “the omelet with the spinach and cheese?” She cursed internally when she realized she’d asked instead of said it, but Natasha didn’t seem to notice. 

Natasha didn’t really say anything after that, and so she didn’t either, but the silence became awkward faster than she liked. 

The waitress broke it when she came up to them, their table was tucked away in a corner, and from where Natasha sat, Sofia knew the alpha would be able to see most of the cafe. 

Natasha gave the beta waitress their orders smoothly enough Sofia didn’t move to say her own order until Natasha had said it for her. Thankfully, neither Natasha nor the waitress said anything when she blushed again and looked down to where she’d clasped her hands tightly on her lap. 

The memory of running away from Natasha and Clint was still fresh in her mind, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment everytime she dwelled on it too much. 

“You know,” Natasha started slowly a few minutes after the waitress had left, “running from us was normal, we were two unknown alphas and you were scared. All the mating books we read warned us it would probably happen at one point or another.” 

Sofia’s mouth opened and closed twice before she realized how much she looked like a fish. 

“You read mating books?” She asked, looking for a way out of the conversation she thought Natahsa wanted to have. 

Sofia was no fighter sure, but that had been the first time she’d ever run from a situation like that and she didn’t exactly like it. 

“Well, none of us have had more than professional experiences with omegas, so it seemed the best course of action.” 

Sofia laughed at the mental image of the Avengers poring over mating books like alphas that had just turned twenty five, but internally wondered just what  _ kind _ of mating books they’d read. Months ago, she mustered up the courage to buy one from the drug store, and from start to finish the book had made her a mixture of angry, uneasy, and afraid. 

It portrayed omegas as eternally submissive, and near mindless fuck toys, and the idea that her future could one day be limited to  _ cook, clean, baby, knot _ was scarier than she wanted to admit. 

Their breakfast arrived before she could begin to spiral downwards into her thoughts, and though she didn’t fall in love with the multiple onions and other vegetables covering her omelet, the food was surprisingly good. 

The two of them ate in relative silence, unsure what to say to the other, but by the time the food was gone, the silence had gone from awkward to companionable.

When they left the table, she stuck as close to Natasha’s side as she dared, the mixture of new place and hundreds of scents making her uneasy.  _ Well, _ her overzealous hindbrain had its fair share of responsibility, but she refused to admit to it. 

Natasha led them towards escalator after escalator, and they ended up on the top floor, towards the back soon enough. 

“Now, we’re gonna start from here and work our way down, grab whatever you want.” 

Sofia blinked owlishly at Natasha, because surely the redhead hadn’t meant for them to shop here of all places. 

“Nat, hate to break it to you, but this is  _ Brookfield _ I feel like my bank account is crying already ‘cause I walked in here-” Natasha cut Sofia off gently, but firmly. 

“Sofia, when you’re with us, you’ll never have to pay alright? Sure you’ll get an allowance for whatever extra things you want, but stuff like this? It's on the alphas to pay for. I said I’m paying earlier, and I meant it. I want to spoil you, so get whatever you want.”

Sofia’s cheeks burned in embarrassment for the umpteenth time that day, but she only nodded her assent as Natasha ushered her gently into the first store of the day. It was simultaneously the most she’d heard the female alpha speak at once, and the most genuine sounding thing. 

Confusion warred within her, but she willed herself to start looking at the clothes in the omega section of the store. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/18/2020-3/20/2020
> 
> Hey so just a heads up for anyone who knows the city, the address for the orphanage is 500 19th st, right in front of greenwood cemetery. I gave it the block Bishop Ford is on because why not.

_ “Sofia did you really just ask if I had any spare history papers on the modern day impact of the Geneva Convention on everyday life in the Middle East-” _

“-Tony, right now I have a header and the prompt down, I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate as fuck,” Sofia said, glaring holes into the near blank google docs screen showering on her laptop. She’d been sitting there going on two hours and all she was able to come up with was that drinking soda from a near empty two-liter bottle felt different at this time of night. Asking the two newly thawed super soldiers for help on her paper hadn’t even crossed her mind, but even as Tony said it, it didn’t sound like a great idea. 

Tony however, continued on talking, barely stopping long enough for her to speak, though she was able to tell by the slight difference in his tone that he’d registered her words. 

_ “-And anyways, wasn’t the Geneva Convention World War II? That Capsickle and Sargesickle’s time not mine, and all my papers were on  _ paper  _ Sofia.”  _

Sofia barely managed a sigh, her eyes boring into the screen in front of her. There was a half eaten bowl of ramen to her right, the broth had long since cooled, and she stared at the orangey-red substance she’d made after putting hot sauce on it. To her left was the textbook she’d opened but hadn’t really looked at along with a few of her notes. 

_ “Sofie?” _ She heard Tony say tentatively, and her attention snapped back to the voice buzzing through her earbuds. 

“Yeah Tony?” 

_ “Are the weekday dates too much? We can-“ _

“No Tony, they’re fine this is on me she assigned this after February break.” She replied, thoughts wandering to the dinner date Steve had taken her on hours before. 

It was a nice, calm dinner at a steakhouse on Broadway nice enough she never would have thought she’d be able to enter. Steve had confided in her once they sat down with a blush on his face that he used to look in through the large windows and wonder what it would be like to take someone on a date there. 

Safe to say, it was better than most Wednesdays were. 

Tony, while probably not heedless to her musings, didn’t hesitate to respond and said, a slight tinge of not so feigned horror in his voice,  _ “February break?“ _ followed by a soft,  _ “Sofia no _ .” 

“Sadly, Sofia yes,” she pulled up a new tab as she spoke, then rewrote her opening sentence a few times before settling on one. 

She jumped from her seat and clapped her hands in a small victory dance, only to look down at where her phone rested next to her neglected ramen. 

Tony’s face glared up at her in slight disapproval before he gave her a mocking nod and clapped his hands slowly. 

_ “Now that you have a sentence done, check your school email.” _

Sofia rolled her eyes but listened anyways, finding at least thirty links on the topic she’d been asking about. 

“Holy shit Tony, you’re amazing how’d you even find-“

_ “I find everything, now shush and do your paper, it's getting late.” _ Tony said, the hint of fondness in his voice evident. 

“It is peak crackhead hours Tony Cannoli all the dumb bitches are thriving.” Tony just blinked at the omega slowly at her deadpan words, giving her the look she’d grown accustomed to getting from them. It’s most basic translation was  _ I have no fucking clue what you mean so I will just blink _ . 

They gave her that look a lot, but no one spoke about it. She thought. 

_ “The only thing dumb about you is your time management skills, and don’t call yourself a bitch.” _

Sofia just shrugged, then when she realized Tony was staring at her ceiling, she propped her phone against the textbook she still hadn’t looked at. Once she had the phone situated, she shrugged at the phone again, then paused when she saw a serious look in the alpha’s eye. 

“I don’t-ugh, okay so-when I say it like that I don’t really mean it I guess, I mean I know the history behind the word, and I’ve seen it used in a bad way, but when it's said like that it's more like a joke.”

Tony’s eyes softened in that way they did when only realized how nervous he’d made her after the fact. 

_ “Alright, but just so you know, I didn’t see anything about that when I looked on Urban Dictionary.” _

Sofia let out a soft  _ eep _ at that and flailed her arms a bit, going as far as to pick up her phone from where she’d just put it. 

“Who let you on there Tony? That stuff isn’t Tony Cannoli appropriate-“ Her words came out more akin to animated babbling as she stared at the small screen and amused tilt of Tony’s lips. 

_ “First of all young padwan I’m more than three times your age, and also Tony Cannoli?” _

Sofia blinked at Tony’s image and hoped that she didn’t adopt the look the alpha had just been wearing as she wrecked her mind looking for where’d she heard the word before. 

“I don’t speak  _ Star Wars _ , but I saw the baby Yoda show. Anyways, I’m pretty sure that word makes you my dad, and you look more like a Dad- _ dy _ . Also cause you smell like a cannoli, and-“

Tony had started making shocked noises in the back of his throat, and by the time she’d cut herself off they’d grown in volume to the point they were louder than her words. 

_ “First of all how can you not have seen  _ Star Wars _ , and second of all it is called  _ The Mandolorian _ , third of all you can’t just call me  _ that _ -“ _ the last word was said with both disdain and a slight intrigue Tony didn’t bother to try and hide,  _ “you are underaged and I have heart problems!”  _ His voice cracked on the last bit, and Sofia had to look away and bite down a smile. 

Once he’d finished, his pupils blown slightly from the images no doubt plaguing his mind, she looked up at him through her lashes and jutted her lip out slightly then gave him the most demure, “I’m sorry alpha” she could muster. 

Tony’s responding growl, while short and low in volume, was deep enough and involved a just big enough flash of his canines that she pressed her legs together, looked back at her computer screen, and put the phone back against the textbook. 

~~~~

Sofia walked into school tired, again. The only difference now was that she felt slightly guilty because she knew that wherever Tony was, he was probably even more tired than her. 

They’d been on the phone until nearly four-thirty that morning, just after she’d submitted her paper on turn it in, and gotten a calm two percent similarity rating. By then they’d been on the phone for over three hours, and both of their voices were heavy with sleep. 

By the time Sofia sat down in home room, her eyes were dropping with sleep, but she held steady, and waited for her free period to nap on Ms. H’s couch. Once she was awake enough to pass her less interactive classes being bored than wanting to sleep, she put her sweater in her lap, and waited for the teacher to turn his back on her. 

She was sitting in the furthest corner from where he was, and most of the class was either asleep or holding side conversations, so pulling her phone out of her bag and sliding it into her lap was easy enough. 

After pulling up her internet browser, she realized the very real possibility of someone wondering why she was just staring at her crotch. The boy at her side slapped her shoulder gently just as she moved to shift the lump that was her sweater to her desk. 

“Is that the story with the virus thingy everyone’s reading?” He asked, eyes going between her dim phone screen and the teacher at the front of the room. As per usual, the beta male had stopped talking and elected to slump at his desk. He was one of the less respectable teachers, and while in theory he could take control of the class, he normally didn’t care enough to. 

“Big bad Paulie Porter wants to read fan fiction?” She asked, amusement twinkling in her grey eyes. 

Paulie Porter was more or less the school’s go to drug dealer, or at least one of the more trusted ones. He was a bit shorter than her, around 5’4 if Sofia had to guess. He also had dark skin, and some of the most wide, trusting, hazel eyes she’d ever seen on a person. There was also a switchblade in his backpack, but no one really spoke about that. 

“Nah,” Paulie said, though he let out a chuckle, “I read the chapter she posted already, just wanted to see if the school's biggest party girl did.”

“First of all, we all know you wish you had a tolerance like me, second of all, I’m a promised omega now so you’re losing business.” She said, remembering just how reliable the Puerto Rican omega had been whenever she needed something in a pinch. 

“You’re bugging Fia, what happened to wanting the stuff for Easter break?”

Sofia rubbed a hand over her face by way of response, and put her phone in sleep mode so she could face the omega next to her fully. 

“Look, I’m getting my room torn to shreds once a week cause I fucked up and got caught, and a fucking war pack signed my adoption papers not even a month ago. If anyone needs to get high, it's me.”

Paulie’s eyes widened in shock before he let out a startled laugh, “Shit man, never mind I’m not gonna fuck up with a bunch of vets.” Then he paused, and said lowly, “I always liked you, you ever need any help you got me an’ my cousins behind ya alright?” 

Sofia was only able to nod, but still laughed softly when Paulie bumped his forehead against her temple. For all that they weren’t friends, she knew Paulie was a good person, and they’d stood up for each other more than once. 

When Paulie pulled away it was to put his head on her shoulder, then he let out a pleased purr when she started to scratch lightly at his back, well below his scruff, but still pleasurable. 

Minutes passed of this, his increasingly sleepy purrs rumbling through his chest, and her eyes moving over the phone screen she’d just opened back up. 

The story she was reading was well known enough that she barely knew anyone that hadn’t read it. It followed the lives of a doctor from Florida, a cop from Missouri, and a single mother from New York as a virus plagued the world. Other than the massive impact caused by the virus, the only other difference was that everyone in the story was a beta. 

She was halfway through the twenty thousand word chapter when the loud, shrill sound of the bell ringing sounded throughout the small school, and Paulie pulled himself sluggishly from her shoulder to follow the twenty or so other teenagers leaving the room. 

Sofia walked down the back staircase and then across the floor to room three-zero-two. The physics lab was painted the same off white and green as the rest of the floor, and she dropped her sweater atop the lab desk and prepared for the least interesting study period of the week. 

After the late bell rang, the room was about halfway full, with most people poorly hiding their phones, or sleeping. Though she hoped she was hiding her phone better than the beta girl two seats in front of her, Sofia was part of the former group. She had nearly made it to the end of the chapter she was reading when she had to stop, and tears brimmed in her eyes. 

In the story she was reading, the single mother’s daughter was in the hospital with complications from the Coronavirus, and she had a sneaking suspicion the author was about to kill the twelve year old girl off. 

Rather than cry over the death of her favorite fictional character, Sofia slid into her messages app to send a request into the group chat to play pool. 

Clint answered barely a minute later, and the back and forth went on for a bit when her screen blanked then started showing an incoming call from Sam. 

It took a slightly disappointed look from the teacher and raised eyebrows from a few others in the room for her to hastily decline the call. 

_ Sam: Are you in school  _

Popped up on her phone just as she sent her own message. 

_ Sofia: Dude wtf I’m not supposed to be on the phone  _

_ Sam: Then why are you on it? _

Sofia looked up at where the teacher had gone back to his phone, then down back at her own and had to bite back a sigh. 

_ Sofia: Well you see _

_ Sofia: I’m in a study _

_ Sofia: And I got bored _

Sam’s only response was a thumbs down emoji, but Sofia guessed everything was fine when Clint sent back the pool game. Thankfully, she didn’t have to deal with school for much longer as it was second to last period. 

~~~~

When Sofia woke up from the after school nap she always took the day after an especially long night, it was to a text from Tony. He was asking if she wanted them to go to her doctor’s appointment the next morning. 

Sofia had to rub her eyes a few times to get all of the excess sleep from them before she started typing, stopped, started again, then stopped to really consider her answer. 

In all honesty, she’d forgotten about her upcoming monthly appointment with the state provided omega specialist. She made sure her read receipts were off, then sat back against the pillows to think. 

Sure, her hindbrain wanted her to have Tony there, especially since she’d always hated the monthly virginity checks from the specialist. In reality though, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t ever want anyone there to see her legs propped up in stirrups, and whatever doctor was on call between her thighs. 

Decision made, she pulled the thread back up, and read the message again. 

_ Tony: Hey, just got an email from your social worker. We all have to go get blood tested, but she invited us to stay for your specialist appointment. Do you want any of us to stay? _

_ Sofia: I’d rather if you not stay if that’s okay, also I think you’ll be getting the visit summary sent to you. I can double check if you want.  _

The response that popped up on her screen a few seconds later brought a small smile to her lips. 

_ Tony: It's fine, don’t be sorry, and don’t worry, if it's anything serious I’m sure you’d tell me.  _

Rather than send a real response in addition to the otherwise scarily near serious conversation, she sent a quick  _ ‘Yeah promise,’ _ and snuggled back down under her covers. 

Tony had just reminded her that she didn’t have school the next day. However, in doing so, he’d also reminded her that she hadn’t gone through a doctor’s appointment without getting high afterward since sophomore year of high school. 

She absolutely detested the state mandated appointments. They always left her feeling a volatile cocktail of violated, humiliated, and plain dirty. Hopefully, she’d be able to keep herself occupied by playing with the babies in the nursery downstairs. If not, there was always the hope that there would be a miraculous miracle where the time between seeing the pack and her date with Tony would be short enough to make the appointment feel abysmal. 

Sofia shot an annoyed glance at the ceiling, then rolled out of bed to pull on a hoodie and shoes. After getting back from school, she showered and pulled on pyjamas that consisted of a pair of RiteAid leggings, and a tank top that had definitely seen better days. 

When she looked in the mirror before walking out the door, she quickly looked away, and put her hair in a bun. The walk to the nursery was quick, and she tried to reason with herself that the only reason she was going in the first place was because she had to complete her necessary amount of hours. It definitely wasn’t because a newborn had come in the day before. Definitely not. 

Regardless, when she got to the nursery floor, she was still greeted with a “Wash your hands if you wanna touch the newborn, and don’t forget to swipe in.” From the ever chipper den alpha, Jasmine. 

Jasmine had been with them for a few years now, and her bright jade green eyes, and blonde ponytail always seemed to radiate excitement. 

Sofia and the rest of the omegas on the high school floor secretly wanted to know what drugs she was taking. No one surrounded by screaming infants and toddlers should be so happy. 

The screen that flashed when she swiped her ID told her that she only had two of her mandatory thirty hours to complete. Every omega had to complete a mandatory thirty hours of some sort of service within the orphanage to earn their five-hundred dollar monthly salary. 

For the most part, Sofia fulfilled her hours like this. She’d swipe in, and play with the babies, and on occasion she had to change a diaper. What she didn’t do, was change the  _ dirty _ diapers. 

That was Jasmine, and the other den alphas’ jobs. 

Brushing the thoughts from her mind, she pocketed her ID and washed her hands before moving towards the bassinet in the far corner that was currently housing Daniel, a five day old newborn. 

Daniel had pink, rosy cheeks, a cute button nose, and the most serious frown she’d ever seen on a newborn. The chart taped to the side of the bassinet said he was ten pounds, five ounces, and sixteen inches long. All in all, he was one of the fattest and cutest babies she’d seen in a while, and when Sofia held him to her chest she was able to ignore the impending doctor’s appointment. 

The calm lasted for a few more minutes before the baby’s nose scrunched up and he started to whine softly. 

Sofia bounced the crying bundle of baby gently and walked towards where the pre-made formula was kept, then shifted him to one arm to pour him a bottle. 

“Hey, make me a six ounce one for this guy.”

Sofia nodded absentmindedly, at the thirteen year old girl behind her, and the screaming ten month old in her arms. She made the bottle while bouncing a still softly crying Daniel, and passed it to Briana. 

Normally she’d offer to switch babies, but it was rare that there were newborns in the orphanage, and she fully intended to get all the time she could with Daniel. 

And if he was the size of most month olds, that was definitely no one’s business. 

“This the loudest he gets?” She asked Briana, who had managed to get Abby, the screaming ten month old, asleep. Daniel had calmed down, and was a sucking on the bottle while staring at her, eyes wide opened, and trusting. 

Briana nodded while shooting daggers at Abby with her eyes. 

“We ended up having to put a monitor on him ‘cause no one could hear him.”

Sofia smiled softly, then looked down when she felt a small hand slapping softly at her leg.

“I hold baby?” The little boy asked, and Sofia turned towards where Jasmine was walking between a few of the babbling toddlers and nodded. 

The boy, Samuel, was only just approaching two, and he’d shown a penchant for playing with the younger ones. Sofia would be mad at how easily he filled the cliche, but he was so cute doing it she couldn’t bear to. 

“Alright, just come and sit over here. He’s almost done eating.”

They moved to sit at an overstuffed couch, and she had him sit Indian style, then pushed a few pillows on either side of him. Finally, she put Daniel in Samuel’s lap, and stood over the duo as they stared into each other’s eyes. 

~~~~

Sofia dressed in the most comfortable clothes she’d wear outside for the dreaded doctor’s appointment. It was her softest and stretchiest pair of jeans, a short sleeved black shirt, and the hoodie she’d worn the night before. It was two sizes too big so the sleeves fell past her hands, and the hem past her butt when she pulled on it. She’d had it the past two years, and as of yet it was one of her most treasured possessions. 

Anna, a sixteen year old omega, met her outside the elevator. Both of them had appointments around the same time, and so they’d decided to go together when they found out a few weeks earlier. It wasn’t a rough ride, but both omegas were more nervous than not, so the company throughout the train ride, and subsequent bus ride as well as the walk both between and after the two as they left Windsor Terrace was more than welcome. 

They arrived around ten that morning, and signed in to the Maimonides Carrier’s Medical Center quickly. The receptionist behind the desk gave them both sympathetic looks, but they ignored them and sat down together in the waiting room. 

Anna was called in first, and Sofia was left alone in the waiting room that was slowly filling with mostly pregnant people and their mates. After fifteen minutes of her scrolling through Instagram, a nurse opened the door to the back and called out her name. 

The maybe fifty year old beta woman led her to a room with about five or so phlebotomy tables, two of which people were getting their blood drawn at. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Bruce was sitting at the table against the wall to the left, and Thor was at the one against the wall across from the door she walked in from. 

“Hey Sof,” she heard as the bathroom door opened and Tony walked out with a cup of clear liquid wrapped in paper towels. He placed the liquid on the table where Thor was getting a bandage put on his inner forearm by a young beta male. 

She smiled softly at the alphas, and gave a small wave. She went to the phlebotomy table next to the one where Thor was sitting when the beta female sitting there waved her over. 

The woman barely spared her a glance as Sofia pulled up the sleeve of her hoodie on her right arm, instead quickly cleaning the area with an alcohol swab. The needle she pulled out was longer than Sofia would have preferred, and she had to look away when it pressed into her skin. 

Thankfully, the blood was drawn quickly, and the no nonsense beta swabbed her mouth just as efficiently before handing her a cup to pee in. Sofia shuffled to the bathroom door, and crossed her fingers in hopes she wouldn’t get pee all over her hands. 

When she got into the bathroom, she put the cup on the sink, and hung her hoodie on the hook on the back of the door. After a heaving and slightly over dramatic sigh, she unbuttoned her jeans, grabbed the cup, and hoped for the best. 

She wound up getting pee all over her hand, and the way a new nurse rushed her to the omega specialist’s office made her attitude grow even worse since it meant she hadn’t been able to do more than wave at the alphas that were still lingering. 

When she got to the room, she was left with the order to take off everything and put on the flimsy paper gown. 

Another nurse came in to check her vitals minutes later, and Sofia was uncomfortably perched on the edge of the table, the imposing stirrups on either side of her. 

She stubbornly kept her eyes on a suspicious brown smudge on the wall across from her when the doctor walked in. The nurse had taken the blood pressure cuff from her arm, and was currently typing something in to the computer mounted on the wall. 

“Hello, my name is Dr. Rosen, and I’ll be seeing you today. Put your legs in the stirrups, we need to do the physical exam now since Nurse Mary has other things to attend to.”

Sofia blinked twice at the doctor’s brusque tone, the  _ blink _ sound effects from a show she loved but couldn’t remember the name of sounding in her ears, then slid around on the table a bit before she put her legs in the stirrups like she was instructed to. 

He sanitized his hands, put on a pair of gloves, and then unceremoniously kicked a rolling stool so it was positioned in front of her. 

She did her best to keep her gaze firmly on the ceiling, but still jumped when he pushed a dry, gloved finger inside of her. The doctor poked around for a bit, impervious to her more than obvious discomfort until he found what he was looking to. 

Sofia looked towards the beta nurse, cheeks tinged in an increasingly dark pink from her own embarrassment and mortification, but the nurse only slid a cart laden with tools to the doctor’s side as the alpha’s finger prodded at her hymen for longer than necessary. 

“Vaginal virginity is in contact,” he said as he finally withdrew his finger, “so you haven’t taken a knot, but I’ve been informed you have had unsafe sex with other carriers, so this next step will be necessary.” The doctor took out a long stick that looked like a single ended q-tip, and swabbed just inside her vaginal canal. 

“Okay Nurse Mary, cap this up for me and you’re free to go. Sofia, you can put your legs down now.”

Something about his tone made Sofia want to crawl inside herself and never leave. It wasn’t unusual if the doctors she was sent were rude or abrasive, but it never failed to grate on her nerves. Neither the doctor or nurse though, seemed to care about how she felt, and the nurse left after a brisque nod while the doctor stood and took off his gloves. 

“It's a shame you know,” Dr. Rosen started, his tone somehow a cross between annoyed and mournful, “they used to keep you omegas so well looked after,” Sofia pressed her knees closer together, and refused to squirm, her eyes were fixed firmly on that same brown smudge on the wall from before, “I think now it's only Texas that keeps your kind in regular chastity. Omegas are just so vulnerable, I can’t believe the state forgets how easy it is for you to fall off the path of the faithful.”

Sofia stopped listening, even as she had to pull the gown off of her shoulders so the doctor could check her breasts for any lumps or sores. She was seriously considering calling Paulie and using his entrepreneurial skills for her own gain, even if it meant risking the Starks going back on the adoption deal. 

After, once she was allowed to pull the flimsy gown up her shoulders, she answered the majority of the questions with a nod or shake of her head. 

“Everything looks good, so I’ll leave you to get dressed and in a few minutes someone will come by to escort you to a meeting room down the hall where your future pack and I will be waiting.”

Sofia nodded again, just to get the doctor out of the room, but it wasn’t until she was fumbling with the buckle of her bra that she realized just what the conversation she was about to have might entail. 

Another beta nurse, this time a male, opened the door while knocking while Sofia tugged on the sleeves of her hoodie. Wordlessly, he turned on his heel and started walking straight down the hall, then opened a door that looked just like the others. 

She’d been able to hear what sounded like Tony and maybe even Steve arguing with the doctor, their increasingly clipped voices growing steadily in volume followed by the doctor’s own frustrated words. 

“If it’s about her doctor, then she should be able to hear it,” Tony said, just as the nurse opened the door and stepped to the side, leaving Sofia in the doorway. 

They were seated in a way that reminded her of the first time she’d met them. The pack on one side of a long table, but this time instead of her, Chase, and her social worker, it was the doctor who sat alone on the other side. On Tony’s left side, between him and Bruce, was an empty seat that the pack alpha gestured for her to sit at. 

Awkwardly, and wanting nothing more than to find Anna and get back to her room already, Sofia shuffled over to sit in the overly large seat that was obviously made with an alpha’s large stature in mind. 

There were inches of space on either side of her, and her feet couldn’t touch the ground even if she sat at the very edge of the seat. The back rest was high enough that it just passed her head, and even if it weren’t for the fact that everyone in the room was nearly twice her size, the chair alone was enough to make her feel like a child. 

“As I was trying to say earlier Mr. Stark, Sofia is relatively healthy from a reproductive standpoint, and while I cannot tell from a physical exam alone, I suspect the size of her breasts and her status as a virgin will make her highly fertile.”

On her side, Bruce’s scent soured slightly in annoyance, and she stiffened further in her seat. 

“Also,” he said, tone calming from it’s previously annoyed state, though nowhere near the calm and dismissive one he’d used on her earlier, “while I did see that you agreed on abstaining from any pups in the near future, she is a very jumpy omega, and getting her pupped sooner rather than later will give her something to focus her nervous energy on. It will also help deter her from participating in any dallencies with other carriers.”

Sofia blinked, and by then her embarrassment, mortification, and need to  _ get the fuck out _ , was strong enough that she could smell it in the air around her. Thankfully, Tony didn’t say anything else, but he nodded and gave the doctor a terse, “If that’s all, then we’ll be leaving now.”

Like it was choreographed, they all stood at the same time, and Sofia found herself clamoring out of the seat. Tony’s gentle hand on her back nudged her forward, but also served to make her skin crawl. The hand dropped from her back quickly as soon as they made it back to the waiting room, and for a second she felt bad. 

“Sorry, uhh, but for personal reasons I’ll be committing suicide.” She said with a chuckle, and wrung her hands in nervousness. 

Bucky just coughed out a quiet “ _ Steve _ ” which in turn made the blond roll his eyes and say “Bucky that was one fucking time.”

“And we got turned into big ole super soldier ice cubes for seventy years cause of it.” Bucky pointed out with a smile on his face, and laughter tinging his words. 

“They always argue like that,” Clint said with a roll of his eyes, then with a little excitement, “want a ride?” 

“Nah, sorry I’m with my friend. Gonna take her back.”

Clint pouted a bit at that, but nodded. 

Sofia was glad. 

She really, really needed a fucking shower. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another heads up, I based the place she went on for the doctor off of Maimonides Women’s Care Services, but I’ve never been there myself so I can’t speak for the staff or any of the doctors.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/20/2020-3/21/2020
> 
> Heads up, I know nothing about archery. Also omg you guys are so nice, thank you so much.

They didn’t leave the medical center until a few minutes after Sofia and her friend did, swarmed by forms that needed signatures, amongst other things. The entire time, Tony was more than a little confused to say the least. Sofia had been nothing like the omega he’d gotten to know. Sure, she was usually jumpy and a nervous ball of energy more often than not, but today she reeked of fear and a need to run he’d never smelt on her. 

Even as they got out of the car and back into the tower he barely used anymore, the scent of it was still thick in his nose and lungs. It was a burning acrid thing, and it made his hindbrain want to take control and do everything he could to make sure she never smelt like that again. Rationally, he knew that it definitely wouldn’t be welcome, but between her distress and the way the doctor easily objectified her, he felt powerless for the first time in a long while. 

Neither Tony’s forebrain or hindbrain liked it very much. 

Scenario after scenario raced through his mind, thoughts centered on wondering why she was acting like that. All of the books said the appointment would make her unsettled, but none of them spoke of outright distress. His mind couldn’t rationalize why they’d downplayed it so much, so automatically, his thoughts began to become centered around one thing. 

_ What the fuck did that doctor do to her? _

He asked JARVIS for more information on the entire appointment as he toed off his shoes and slumped against Clint on the couch. After about a minute, they were presented with multiple holographs popping up in front of them. 

A first glance showed that most of the holographs were files that were excerpts taken from mating books, some of them from the many mating books they’d read through. A few of the files that Tony was sure weren’t for the public eye showed more detailed descriptions of what went on during mandatory doctor’s appointments like the one Sofia had just had. 

Tony’s eyes zeroed in on the corner that contained a majority of the holograms with medical information and journals. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natasha blink in a way that years of experience told him meant she wasn’t sure how to respond. The scent of anger flooded the room, heavy and hot in its intensity, and Tony ran a hand through his hair in an uncharacteristic show of his nervousness. 

“The books said she’d be nervous after, but they didn't say anything about it being from this.”

Tony nodded at Sam’s words, and put a hand on the other alpha’s arm that rested on his thigh. He could tell the information hadn’t been hard for JARVIS to find, and while he’d regretted doing things the legal way before, for the first time he found himself angry at the decision he’d made. 

This alone was proof that there was so much that wasn’t public information, and he grit his teeth in anger at the fact that all of this was legal. 

“Who the fuck sticks their hands in a stranger and calls it necessary?” He heard himself whisper, as JARVIS showed him the files, all of which were accompanied by explanations as to how beneficial it was for the omega as well as their future alpha. 

“Ya know Thor, you’re weird Asgardian shit doesn’t seem so bad now.” Clint said, referencing how, in Asgard omegas were raised with familial packs, regardless of whether or not an alpha was present, and how they spent their heats with an alpha of their choice without having to bond first. 

Thor mumbled out a soft “Aye,” and flitted his eyes over the holograms. 

Bucky and Steve were both silent except for a few sound effects, for which Tony was grateful. Years ago, they’d praised how far society had come in concern to omegas, and while neither of them agreed with what most of the classified files said, they were at a loss for words. 

Tony could nearly hear what they were thinking, and through the thin mating bond he shared with the pack, felt a much more watered down version of their emotions when he focused on them. 

After a minute or so of gently prodding at the bond connecting him to the two alphas, he heard it. 

_ They said it was better, but much better could this be with this? _

  
  


~~~~

After the doctor’s appointment from hell, the subsequent too long and too crowded bus ride, Sofia took the hottest shower she could stand and scrubbed at her skin until it was borderline raw. 

In the shower stall on the other end of the bathroom, she could hear Anna sniffling softly, and though she would never admit it, she knew the other omega could probably hear her own soft sobs. 

She got out of the shower that had only served to make her feel somewhat better, and put on the baggiest pair of sweats she owned along with a loose, long sleeved shirt that was so warm it could have qualified as a sweater. Before she left the bathroom, she pressed a hand against the wall and hoped Anna’s afternoon would be better than their morning. 

Sofia set a standard six alarms, and put her phone under a small blanket she used as a pillow, then curled up in her nest as tightly as she could, and took the best depression nap in the world. 

Her sleep was thankfully dreamless, but just like she knew she would, she only felt more exhausted after her three and a half hour nap. 

It took her another ten or so minutes and three alarms to get out of her small and cozy nest, and when she did, the first thing she did was take off her shirt, grab a washcloth and wash her face and armpits. 

Earlier, Tony had withheld the place he was taking her, but assured her that jeans would be appropriate enough. With that in mind, she pulled out a pair of black jeans, and a long sleeved shirt, both of which Natasha had brought her the Sunday before. 

However, once she started getting dressed, she paused once she opened her underwear drawer. Internally, she started wrecking her brain, trying to remember what she had done with her only bra that was both nice and clean. 

It was another item of clothing that Natasha had brought her, and she hadn't lent it out to anyone yet, but in a place with people who were all raised without much sense of property, it didn’t mean much. 

On a regular basis, she either went into someone’s room, or had someone come into hers, whether it be in search of clothes to borrow, phone or laptop chargers, and even, though rarely, soap. 

Closing her drawers with a sigh, Sofia pulled her pajamas back on and walked towards where she could hear one of the other girls playing music as she got dressed. 

“Dayja, I need my good bra!” She shouted as she banged as heavily on the door as she dared. After a few seconds, the other girl opened the door, and with a “Sorry” that was nearly drowned out by the music, dangled the bra out of the door. 

Sofia took it, and ignored the “Eww its a  _ bra _ ” that one of the boys on the sofa whined out. 

She only had a little less than an hour to get dressed, fix her makeup, and get downstairs. 

By a miraculous stroke of luck, she was able to do all of that and get downstairs a few minutes before Tony did. 

When the alpha arrived, it was with a smirk on his face, and a glint in his eyes that she hoped meant something good. In typical Tony fashion, he offered her his arm in an overly obvious movement. 

Sofia took it with a roll of her eyes, and tried to discreetly see what he was wearing. 

From what she could see, it was a red shirt underneath a black leather jacket, and blue jeans. Every inch of him screamed wealth, from the softness of the fabric and what she suspected was a custom tailor, to the just large enough gold watch on his right wrist. 

“Didn’t know you were left handed.” She said by way of greeting as he signed the form. 

“I’m full of surprises dear omega, now lets go we have a long ride and I don’t want to actually keep you out too long past midnight.”

“Old man miss his nap time?”

“Thought you wanted to try lobster?” Tony retorted as he opened the car door for her. Sofia made a show of closing her mouth and looking away. 

She gave him a pointed look to hurry up as he walked around to his side of the car. Instead, he slowed down further to the point that he looked absolutely ridiculous, and Sofia had to stifle a laugh behind her hair. 

“So, where to?” She asked once he sat in his seat and gave her seatbelt a pointed look. 

“I won’t put your seatbelt on, but I  _ will  _ wait you out.”

Sofia narrowed her eyes at Tony, and he arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her. 

She broke what was starting to move into staring contest territory, and glanced at the still raised eyebrow. 

“Where do you get your eyebrows done?”

“You can’t afford her,” he snorted, not unkindly, “but I’ll call her if you want. So, are we gonna live here from now on? Walk to Long Island? Up to you-hey your eyes are gonna get stuck if you keep rolling them like that you know?”

Sofia huffed at the man, but relented and buckled her seatbelt anyways. Tony just gave her a small, triumphant smirk and started pulling out and into the street. 

“So, like the car?”

“Ehh, it’s no Bumblebee, but I guess it's okay.” 

“You’re real hard to please sometimes ya know? This car is worth more than most lungs.”

“How often do you buy lungs Ton-”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” 

At that, she paused and processed the car they were in. Rather than the overly flashy car Natasha had used the week before, the Mercedes they took screamed wealth in a different way. The sleek black car probably did cost more than some lower quality lungs, and if she hadn’t started to slowly become accustomed to the way the Starks so easily flashed their wealth, she would be more hesitant than she already was to break anything. 

“I guess it's sexy, but it probably wouldn’t look as good without me in it,” she said, giving the dashboard an appreciative look and rubbing a hand on the inside of the door. 

Tony gave her an appreciative glance, then turned back to look at the road with a shrug. 

“I usually wait until after the eighteenth birthday to start those conversations, but sure.”

Sofia shook her head slightly, and with a dramatic sigh, turned sideways and leaned against the window. 

“You have to save me before I die of boredom.”

Tony shot her an incredulous look and for a split second Sofia worried he might lose control of the car. 

“Why don’t you go on that loud ass app thing you love?”

“TikTok? Dude, you’re old,” she said, though she pulled out her phone anyways. As usual, there weren’t any notifications, and when she swiped it open, TikTok just so happened to be on the screen. 

“What the fuck is she talking about?” He asked after a video started playing. The girl on the screen was talking about the time when she got caught having sex by a teacher who offered them extra credit if he got to watch.

“White people are wild man.”

“Sofia you’re white.”

“Sadly, white privilege isn’t even all that man.”

“It really isn’t,” Tony agreed, tone having shifted towards something a little too serious for Sofia’s liking. 

She reached to turn on the radio, and quickly landed on a station that was playing Queen. 

Tony started tapping his fingers against the steering wheel along to the beat, so she settled on that. She wasn’t too familiar with the song, but she knew the beat well enough. The next song that came on wasn’t Queen, but it was still one she liked. 

“Shot through the heart, and you’re to blame,” she sang softly, and with a wide smile, Tony turned up the volume as high as it went so that he could sing along with her. 

Together, they sounded more like dying cats than like humans, but the scent of happy and excitement emanated from them both to the point where it was unignorable. 

Tony pulled into a parking space in front of the restaurant an hour later, and without realizing it, she waited for him to open her car door. 

He walked around to open it, then locked the car once she got out and he closed the door. He didn’t put a hand on Sofia’s lower back like he had earlier that day, but he stood close enough next to her that he didn’t have to guide her physically. 

The scent of alpha and fresh cannoli was muddled enough under the overlaying scents of her future packmates that she always had to look for it, but by now it was easy enough. She’d come to enjoy the myriad of sweet scents that made up the Stark pack, and she could only hope that they reciprocated the feelings. 

When they entered, the beta hostess blinked at them in surprise before she grabbed two menus and led them towards a booth that was slightly separated from the others. 

The owner walked over to give his well wishes, and Tony seemed comfortable enough. After the older man left, Tony picked up his menu and pointed out how he favored a certain meal. 

“Tony with all do respect, if your lobster stares me in the eye while I eat its cousin, I will commit multiple crimes.” Sofia said, earning a look that said  _ what the actual fuck _ from Tony.

According to the alpha, the restaurant they were at in Long Island was the best place to get lobster and other seafood, and he had been going there with his parents since he was young. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll get the option without the head. Please don’t commit any crimes. The president had a tit fit last time you did, and I don’t need to deal with that again.” Tony said, waving one of his hands in a dismissive gesture.

“Wait, the president?”

“Sofia, you hacked his personal computer from multiple states away and left a message calling him an incompetent cheeto.”

“Well, I mean he is.” Sofia retorted, and put her eyes back on her menu, then muttered not so quietly, “Shoulda found a way to kill ‘im.” 

All she got in return as she finally settled on a meal was a soft “Sofia, no.”

“One day, you’ll say ‘Sofia, yes’ ya know? And I always could have found a way to mess with his car? Do you think it's advanced enough to get hacked? Can you even put a computer in a limo?”

“Well I mean you can, but well-we can’t exactly talk about assassinating the president in the middle of a public place,” he ran a hand through his already artfully messy hair, “and I have a feeling I’ll rarely say ‘Sofia, yes,’ especially if you keep thinking of ways to assassinate world leaders.”

“The only other ones I’d assassinate are all American, cause I don’t know much about the other countries, but I’d kill the Brit that worked with that American actor guy that trafficked those kids that didn’t kill himself.”

“Eipstien?”

“Yeah, the government killed him, I found the files but didn’t get around to leaking them, too many firewalls to rebreak. Ya know?”

The owner came back some time later to take their orders and in doing so, broke the companionable silence her and Tony had been enjoying. When he left, it was with a large smile on his face, and she saw a smaller and more reserved one on Tony’s.

She ate her seafood mac ‘n cheese in between bouts of conversation. The food tasted delicious, and the chunks of lobster, crab, and bits of shrimp only made it better. 

Across the booth from her, Tony was eating a large plate of lobster, potatoes, asparagus, and what might be carrot. 

“So,” Tony said, laughter fading from his lips as it still bubbled from hers, “I have a surprise for you, well two I guess, but they’re both in the car.” 

“Ooh, a surprise? What is it?” Sofia’s interest was officially piqued, though she still felt bad he’d gone through the process of getting her something that was probably more expensive than anything else she could dream of affording. 

“Sofia, it's a  _ surprise _ I can’t just tell you now.” 

“Then why would you bring it up? That’s so rude.”

“Rude? Me? Never.” 

With a huff, Sofia shoveled another bite of her food into her mouth. 

Tony’s soft smile and sarcastic eye roll told her that he didn’t really think she was annoyed, and he easily changed the topic of conversation to some new programming technique that was becoming more popular. 

His explanation of it was biased enough that combined with the slightly distasteful tone he used she could tell he didn’t care for it. After a little of back and forth where she wound up getting a real explanation out of him, she found that it wasn’t nearly as bad as he made it seem. 

He claimed it cut too many corners to be effective, but Sofia felt that with a few tweaks here and there, it would be more secure than most other techniques out there. Eventually, they came to a concession where Tony agreed that while the technique was heavily flawed, it still had enough room for improval that the flaws were menial. 

“I’m glad you see things my way.”

“Wow, you let the omega win one argument, an’ all of a sudden-” He dropped his fork to make an overdramatic explosive gesture with his hands, laughter in his words.

“Hey, I won that argument fair and square-”

“Never said you didn’t.” Tony retorted, hands up in a show of mock surrender, and in lieu of saying anything, Sofia pointed an accusatory finger at him alongside a glare. 

Sofia started picking out the bits of seafood after as she got full, though she’d already eaten most of the plate. When she’d ordered, she’d gotten the portion size that the waiter said was recommended for omegas, but the plate had still wound up being nearly twice as large as she expected it to be. Tony’s plate, while it had been a little more realistically portioned, was still a good amount bigger than hers. 

Thankfully, Tony seemed to be filling up as well, and with a final bite of a potato, set down his fork. 

“Holy shit,” Tony said, looking at a spot over her shoulder. She turned halfway, and squinted slightly so she could read the headline on the news report playing on the TV above the bar. 

“And omega fight in front of the White House? Pretty random but the fight doesn’t look too bad.” 

On the screen, two boys were fighting rather viciously, but Sofia had seen worse in person. 

“Sofia, that’s viscous!”

“I swear to you, it's nothing that would have made the news if it wasn’t in front of the White House.”

“Sofia they’re bleeding!” The shocked alpha explained, gesturing wildly in a way Sofia had come to associate as normal for him. 

“Tony, have you ever seen an omega fight in person?” 

In her opinion, he was completely overreacting. For the entirety of her life, she’d seen omegas go at it over the littlest things, and more often than not, the blows evolved quickly into short hospital stays. Hell, she’d caused more damage herself than the two boys were currently doing combined.

“Well, no but-”

“Tony, I’ve done worse than both of them combined, I promise, this isn’t that bad.”

Tony looked like he was about to say something in response, but the owner came to hand him a dessert menu and take their plates before he could. 

“That sounds like a lot to unpack, so we’ll talk dessert instead. Tiramisu?”

At Sofia’s nod, Tony turned and handed the menu back to the owner who laughed and took it with a nod of his own. 

“Wait, I just realized what you said.”

“Huh?”

“You found proof Eipstein didn’t kill himself?”

“Oh that, don’t tell the feds, they might off me, or try and buy me, which doesn’t really make sense since technically I can’t receive more than a few thousand at once, but I’m pretty sure he did it to this Guatemalan girl.”

Just then, they got their dessert, and after a second of wondering, Sofia realized what was going on. With the placement of the plate, the cutlery was facing Tony, but she could tell there were at least two spoons there. 

Ignoring the spoons, Tony took a fork and knife, then meticulously started cutting bite sized pieces from the cake. Once he’d cut around half of it, he turned the plate and pushed it towards the middle of the table so that the small pieces along with a spoon were facing her.

With a blush on her face and a “Thank you Tony,” she slid a piece onto the spoon and ate it. While she was nearly  _ too  _ full, it would be more than rude not to eat the portion he’d provided for her. To cut the small pieces was more than possessive, and it made her hindbrain want to purr in pleasure, joining her already thoroughly pleased and entertained forebrain. 

By some miraculous stroke of luck, Tony ate his own portion of the cake slowly, and the pieces he’d cut up for her had maintained the shape of the cake rather than collapsing and ruining the layers. 

The flavor of the cake erupted over her taste buds, and she knew she’d never look at tiramisu the same ever again. By the smug look in his eyes, Tony knew it too. The duo was relatively silent as they ate the dessert, Tony’s eyes on the omega across from with a deliberate yet indistinguishable emotion in his eyes. 

“Do you like it?” Tony asked, tone quiet and smug yet slightly insecure at the same time. 

Sofia nodded a yes, and felt a shy, excited smile take residence on her face. It felt like a spell had fallen over the booth, the lights overhead felt more intense, but other than that it was like her hindbrain was pressing up against her forebrain. It wasn’t quite a fight for dominance, but more so like pushing against someone else for a better view of something. 

The feeling was strange and only slightly unwelcomed, and remained with her as they ate the dessert and Tony paid for the dinner with a card. 

When they got back to the car, the first thing Tony did was open the door for her and push her inwards with a gentle hand on the middle of her back. The brief touch was hesitant, and while the ghost of the doctor’s hands from earlier was still on her, she managed to push back into it just enough to show that she didn’t hate it. 

Rather than walk to get in the driver’s seat, Tony went around to open the trunk of the car. From where she was sitting she couldn’t see what he was holding, but as he came back around and opened the driver’s side door, she saw two white boxes in his hands. The one on the bottom was a large rectangle, and the one on the top was a bit thicker than the one on the bottom and less than a quarter of the size. 

When he opened the door with one hand and not so gracefully slid into his seat, she noticed that the boxes in his hand were a phone box and a laptop box respectively. 

Tony dropped both boxes into her lap like they didn’t cost more money than she could imagine seeing at once. Shocked, she blinked up at him, then looked back down into her lap. 

“Once you turn them on, your number will sync and you can do whatever else you need to do.”

Sofia was only able to whisper a “Holy fuck Tony,” look at the box, then say even quieter, “Thank you.” 

~~~~

Clint had checked with her before as to whether or not she’d be up for going to an archery range, and not wanting to seem ungrateful or anything of the sort, she’d agreed despite her trepaditions. 

Now though, sitting in the passenger side of an Audi, she was seriously considering doing a tuck and roll onto the streets of Gowanus just to avoid the embarrassment that would come when everyone realized just how terrible her aim was. 

“Clint,” she said, hoping she wasn’t stinking up the car with dread and premature embarrassment, “you’re never going to find parking around here.”

He just shrugged as if to say  _ I’ll make my own parking _ and continued going up Bond Street. Sofia saw his eyes flit around, taking in the area. Most of it had no parking signs, or had a car parked there already. Parts of the street with no parking signs also had cars parked there, like she believed the car they were in was about to be. 

“I mean, if you wanna make your own parking so bad, there’s this spot in the projects with a garage housing doesn’t use, or maybe somewhere down Hoyt? Definitely not Smith.” She was fairly sure he knew most of this already, but she didn’t want to assume that because he was a spy he would. 

He probably did. 

“How do you know the area?” He asked instead of saying that he already knew. 

“Oh, uhh, my friend lives in that building over there.” She had to half turn to point at the building that was on the corner of Hoyt and Baltic. 

Clint just made a humming sound in the back of his throat then let out a triumphant “Aha!” and turned so he could pull into a parking spot. 

Sofia made the mature decision to stick her tongue out at him, and he did the same in return before he got out of the car and opened her door before she realized it. Mentally, the omega promised herself that one day she’d open the door herself. 

They had to walk a little more than half a block to get to their destination, and the March chill that hadn’t been there yesterday nipped at Sofia to the point where she had to push her hands into the pockets of her jacket. 

“Don’t be so nervous, you’ll do fine.”

She gave Clint a doubtful look, fiddling with the lighter in her right pocket. 

“Seriously, only reason I’m bringing you here is ‘cause I can’t bring you to the one in the tower, and I’m no good at teaching the basics.” 

“I just want to warn you that last time I tried to play darts I ended up getting it into a waiter’s arm.”

Clint blinked in disbelief, then, “How close was she?” 

Sofia didn’t answer, instead shook her head with an apologetic smile on her face as they entered. 

It looked like they’d arrived just in time, and the alpha female in charge of their small group spoke quickly and with a tone that said she barely heard her own words anymore from how often she had to say them. It took about fifteen minutes for her to finish her spiel, and Sofia found herself doing her best to pay attention even as her attention kept getting drawn elsewhere. 

Clint not so subtly nudged her side with an elbow when the rest of the group started moving towards the lanes. 

“Something tells me neither of us have any clue what she said.” 

“Well, I think it had to do with safety.” Sofia muttered sarcastically, and Clint chuckled in response. 

“In my defense, she was boring.”

Clint nodded in agreement, shook his head again, and slung the duffle bag from his shoulders gently. From there he pulled out two bows, both black but one noticeably smaller, some of the arm and finger things she saw the instructors wearing, and a few arrows. He set each item on the counter like thing in front of them, then held an expectant hand out for her own hand. 

She held out an arm, and in return, his sure fingers situated the guard on her, and a finger tab as well. He did the same to himself, but then instead of grabbing the larger bow, nudged her forward and situated the smaller one in her hand. 

Sofia would like to say that she did her best to focus on the instructions he was giving her, but for the most part, she was trying not to squirm as he gently repositioned her. Above her, Clint snorted quietly, and then showed her how to notch an arrow. With the way he guided her, the arrow landed its mark, but when he stepped aside and looked at her expectantly, she just arched a brow in return, and angled her pursed lips to the side of her mouth in a look of disbelief. Regardless, she tried, and miraculously landed somewhere on the target. 

Clint and her did a small victory dance together, before he gestured for her to shoot another. The second one landed slightly closer to the bullseye, but still nowhere near close. 

Their hour passed by quicker than she thought it would have, but Clint just went to get another for them, and when she asked why he wasn’t shooting any, he told her slightly resentfully that they weren’t allowed to share lanes. 

Sofia felt a little bad, but he quickly distracted her by moving the conversation to something else as she fumbled around to notch another arrow. 

Their second hour passed just as quickly, and after that rather than buying another, Clint and her left in search of what the alpha called a late lunch. 

“Gonna leave this in the car. Any place good for lunch?” 

Honestly, Sofia wasn’t even that hungry, but she had a feeling that the Stark pack had a thing for feeding her. It felt like every chance they got, they were buying her something to eat. Part of it may have been due to the fact that two of the dates they’d taken her on were  _ dinner _ dates, but still.

“Smith is all restaurants, so it depends on what you want. Nothing on Hoyt I think.” Sofia paused, and mentally took stock of what was on Smith Street as they approached the car. “There’s Dominican, French, I think some kind of Asain, maybe Italian, Starbucks, further down there’s pizza further up is a diner. I think that’s it.”

Clint let out a considerate hum, then said decisively, “Dominican, if that’s alright.” Sofia nodded, then burst into uncontrollable laughter when she saw the ticket on the windshield of the car. 

Clint had indeed wound up making his own parking. 

  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/21/2020

When they got there, Sofia only gave the menu a cursory glance since she was pretty sure she knew what she wanted, all the while pretending to ignore the way Clint’s fluent Spanish sounded when he spoke to the waitress easily. Somehow he managed to sound attractive, all the while sounding like a Spaniard crossed with a Dominican, which, while not the best accent, sounded strangely attractive on him. 

Distractedly, she picked at one of the pieces of bread that was on the table, then not so discreetly checked her phone screen. It had been buzzing on and off since they put their things in the car.

“Sorry,” she said absentmindedly, it was a near paragraph long text message from Raya, and a few others from Rose and Lisa. While she didn’t stop to read the paragraph, she read the ones from Rose and Lisa that offered apologies on how they’d tried to stop Raya and not to read the message in public. 

For once, she chose to heed the warning and placed her phone face down on the table. The last time she hadn’t listened to Rose when it came to something like that, she ended up crying in the middle of Times Square, and well, she always listened to Lisa when it came to that stuff. 

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, nothing to worry about.” Clint nodded his head, obviously not believing her, but not willing to push on the subject either. 

“If you say so,” a pause, then a glance back down at the menu, “the steak and onions any good?”

Sofia made a face at that, but answered anyways, “I mean, if you’re willing to eat onions.” 

Clint rolled his eyes and snorted in the most dignified way possible. 

“What’re you getting?”

“Mofongo probably.”

“Cool, chicken or pork?” 

“Chicken, probably.”

Clint hummed again and flagged down the waitress so he could place their orders. Sofia’s Spanish was far from good, but she could understand enough to notice him order two Coronas. The waitress grabbed them from the snapple fridge that was against the wall, opened them, and put them on the table alongside two cups full of ice that were standing on the counter. 

Sofia blinked in question, but Clint only shrugged. 

“It's just a beer, your liver’s had worse,” a deliberate pause and nod towards one of the cups, “unless that’s all it takes to get ya drunk.”

Sofia narrowed her eyes, then unashamedly took the bait and had some of the beer. Part of her wanted to finish it in one gulp, but the other part of her had a feeling that there would be another beer in front of her once she finished this one. Normally she could do four or five beers before she felt anything but she didn’t want her ego to risk her pride. 

She also had a sneaking suspicion that it was some form of test to see whether she’d give in and start chugging. Years ago, one of her friend’s moms had done it to her, but he’d wound up urging her to go faster and faster. Once she was thoroughly wasted, he told her that now she had a good guess as to how much she could drink,  _ and _ how fast she could do it. 

At the time, she hadn’t really understood the lesson, but eventually she learned to take it to heart. Times like now where when she put it to use, and while she still wound up drinking a bit faster than Clint, she still drank much slower than she usually would. 

The food arrived quicker than she thought it would have since the restaurant was filled with construction workers on their lunch breaks. She poured the sauce that came with her meal onto the plate, and Clint poured his red beans on top of his yellow rice. Sofia was slightly smug at the fact that she spilled far less than he did. 

The beer was cold in her stomach, and the steaming food provided a welcome contrast. 

“Did you eat breakfast?”

Sofia swallowed the bite in her mouth, nodded, then, “I  _ do _ know how to eat without being reminded you know.” 

“Sofia, you’re tiny.” Clint said, disbelief tainting his words, and Sofia nearly choked in shock. Sure, she’d tried to lose weight not too long ago, but she hadn’t been able to lose more than five pounds that she was also pretty sure she gained back. While she didn’t weigh herself often either, she was positive she was over two-hundred pounds, and couldn’t comfortably fit anything smaller than a jean size twelve. That and, she was four inches taller than the average omega. 

“I’m...not, but okay?”

“Sofia, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you can fit into my pocket.”

Sofia gave him a pointed look and said, “Clint, the smallest thing I can fit into is  _ maybe _ a closet or some shit like that.”

“Are you telling me you never tried to fit in a locker?” Sofia didn’t want to dignify that with an answer, but in reality she knew that come her birthday, her friends would probably post pictures and videos from each and every time she’d gotten in a locker. She also knew that there were probably a few pictures already somewhere on social media. 

Regardless, she narrowed her eyes rather than answering. One of the first things she was taught in terms of dealing with her future mate, or mates, was that any lie, no matter the severity, wouldn’t end well. Thus came her life motto: A lie by omission is only a lie if you want it to be. 

The motto changed every few months when she forgot the last one, but still. 

Clint arched his eyebrow again, like he knew she was spouting bullshit, but instead of pressing, he chuckled and finished his beer in one long sip. Her own was already less than halfway full, so she took a bite of her food rather than say anything. 

“So, how many pictures of you in lockers are there?”

She huffed a bit, and definitely didn’t pout, only for him to chuckle a little. After a little bit of nervous shifting in her seat, she knocked something in her jacket over, and her lighter wound up falling out and clattering against the ground. 

Sofia picked it up quickly, and glanced up at Clint who was looking between her face and the lighter pointedly. She stuffed it in her back pocket. 

“A lighter?”

“Just spit it out.” Sofia said, cheeks heated in embarrassment. 

“Alright, why the lighter?”

“Emergency firework lighting?”

“No one lights fireworks in March.”

“Once it breaks eighty degrees, all bets are off.”

“Sofia, it's fifty-three degrees out.”

“But yesterday, it was seventy-two.”

“So it's not for weed?” He asked before taking a bite of his rice, which reminded Sofia to take a bite of her own food before it cooled. 

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. 

“ _ Sir, _ I go to a catholic school, I could never touch the Devil’s Lettuce.” Clint snorted out a laugh at that, and she laughed herself. 

While she didn’t know him as well as she’d like to, she could tell that Clint’s moods were easily manipulated when he let them be. She’d seen him go from quietly serious to relaxed and laughing in seconds, and it was only the look in his eyes that was fun and excited while also pensive and thoughtful combined with the way he was easily leaned back into his seat that told her he was genuinely enjoying the date. His scent didn’t offer much in the way of emotion, rather calm in a way that meant while he wasn’t feeling anything negative, he wasn’t feeling anything particularly strong either. 

“Shame, was thinking about letting you try some after your birthda-”

“Well, I’m always up to trying new things.”

This time, Clint was the one to roll his eyes at her, but the fondness and happiness that trickled into his scent made the action nowhere near convincing. 

Her phone started vibrating on the table where she’d left it, and Clint looked at it and muttered an “Aww, phone no.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said and declined the call. It was from Lisa, and probably about whatever Raya had wanted from her. Quickly she stuffed her phone into her pocket. Now, things were awkward. 

Rather than trying to salvage what had already been a dying conversation, she finished her beer in one swing. As if on cue, Clint nodded over her shoulder at one of the waitresses and ordered two beers. 

“Each one you finish, you get another one.” He said unnecessarily. 

“Dude, it’s free beer.”

“I respect that.”

At the slight lapse in silence, Sofia decided to do what she normally wouldn’t and mentally confer with her hindbrain for advice. The only response she got though, was that getting fucked by Clint in the bathroom was a good idea.

Clint glanced at the mirror on the wall next to them, and let out a soft “Huh.” Behind him, the news was playing, and while she couldn't understand or hear it, she saw the same video of the fight that was on the news when she went out with Tony the night before. 

“Haven’t seen an omega fight make the news in a while.” 

She nodded in agreement, and watched him pick a piece of onion off of his steak, “Think the last one was the one in Atlas.”

“That mall with the big movie theatre in Queens?” 

She nodded her agreement, and took a sip of her newly refilled beer. 

The conversation didn’t exactly flow from there, but for the rest of lunch, they went between topics to the point that it felt natural, if not a bit awkward. Sofia waited until they got back into the car to check her phone, opening up the messages from Raya first. It looked like a long paragraph, and then a series of shorter ones right after. 

Her eyes flitted over the entirety of the messages twice before she started to register what they said on the third try. 

A soft “Oh, okay,” left her lips in a single breath, and she handed the phone over to Clint when she noticed his extended hand. 

“What the actual fuck?” Clint muttered under his breath, and Sofia’s shocked state of numbness slowly edge towards anger. 

“I should take her clothes to her grandma’s and set the place on fire.” Sofia watched a couple walk outside as she kept speaking, “I don’t even know what she means- I- her boyfriend is fucking his cousin’s  _ fiance _ , he’s gayer than fucking what’s his face?”

“Uhh, Freddy Mercury?”

“Wasn’t he bi?” Sofia asked, momentarily distracted. 

“Elton John then?”

“Yeah that dude. Anyways, they’re only together ‘cause he’s gonna turn twenty-five and doesn’t know how to tell his family.” Sofia ran a hand through her hair and leaned back into the seat. 

“ _ And _ they only got together cause she’s got raging fucking daddy issues.”

Sofia spared a glance at Clint, who she was pretty sure had started memorizing the texts from her phone. 

“Not even the half of it.”

Clint gave her back the phone and started the car while she started answering her other messages. 

“Why would she even start all of that up?” Sofia took a breath at that, hurt and anger strong in her scent. 

“Raya and I, well, we were never together, but since I think Christmas my freshman year, we started doing stuff but we never really got along unless we were super drunk or high.” It wasn’t healthy, but neither Sofia nor Raya had ever tried to say it was. Instead, they lived their lives and only really intentionally entangled their separate paths when it was for the sake of their friends, or to have sex. 

“That’s pretty fucked up, I’ve been in situations like that and they never end well.”

Sofia just shrugged and put on her seatbelt. 

“I had a really great time, so sorry I fucked it up.” Sofia laughed out humorlessly, thumbs fiddling with the material of her jacket.

“Hey,” Clint interjected, and put a hand on her thigh, “you didn’t fuck anything up, if anything she fucked up. Today was  _ perfect, _ okay?”

Sofia nodded, guilt and hurt making the gesture seem more pitiful than she meant it to be. 

“Come on, don’t make me get you drunk.” Sofia gave him a hopeful look, but he just shook his head and kept driving. 

“Sofia, no I can’t just send you back there drunk. What happens when you have to talk to someone hmm? Or if they test you again?”

“Clint, I lost count of how many times I looked at Chase with a straight face while I was fucked up.”

He gave her a dry look, “Really? Because you’re ‘I promise I’m not hungover’ face could use so much work.”

“Okay, I was hungry, I had cottonmouth, and I was only one cup of coffee in.”

Clint shrugged, and she chuckled despite herself. 

“ _ And _ I was asleep on the train.” Clint gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her, and this time she rolled her eyes, efficiently distracted from her emotions over Raya for the time being. 

Realistically, she knew that once she was alone it would all come crashing over her, but she absorbed herself in the mindless banter between her and Clint. 

It was a short ride back to the orphanage, and Sofia found herself loathe to the idea of being alone right then. 

“What’re you doing now?” He asked, and she was thankful for the ease in which he said the words. 

“Probably gonna go to the nursery. They always need help down there.” She spared a glance up at him, and saw the carefully concealed excitement in his eyes. 

“You could ah, join me if you want?” She asked more than said, then hurried to say, “They always ask for alphas to volunteer, and you’ll probably have to sign a shit ton of forms, and the kids might go bat shit, but you’re more than welcome.” 

While Staten Island had never been a place Sofia liked, she was just about ready to jump off of the Verrazano to escape her own embarrassing rambling. 

“Babies are scary, but sure.”

Sofia chuckled a bit, unused to people being uneasy around babies since she’d had to spend so much time with them. 

“Its up to pre-k so there’s more big guys than babies.” 

Clint parked the car, put the ticket in the console and the two got out. They walked side by side to the receptionist’s desk, and part of Sofia was grateful that he let her open the door since it helped her to push her hindbrain back to the recesses of her mind. 

“Hey, lemme get one of the visitation forms for him.” She said to the woman whose name she’d forgotten again. 

The woman behind the counter rolled her eyes and pulled the forms from a drawer in her desk. 

Clint barely glanced at them as he signed the highlighted areas, giving off an air of nonchalance. 

The beta behind the desk glanced over it and wrote out a  _ Clint B. Alpha _ on the visitor’s pass. 

When they entered the nursery, she gestured for a hook where he could hand his jacket. Once the jackets were hung, she gestured towards the rough where most of the older ones were sitting around Dayja, who was reading an old, beat up book out loud. 

The nursery floor had a strange setup. While it was shaped like the other floors, on one side was a miniature day care for the ones old enough to enjoy it, and toys that catered to all necessary age groups. More than half of the floor however, was cut off by a set of double doors that led to cribs and bassinets for the kids under two, though on more than one occasion older kids were stuck in cribs because of a lack of space. The other third of the floor was accessible from a door opposite the double doors in the second room, and held a few rows of beds with railings for the other kids. 

Right now, the double doors were held wide open so that most of the floor was visible from where Sofia and Clint entered. Most of the kids on the second side were sitting up and playing, but there were also about as many empty cribs as there were occupied ones. 

Noticing her questioning glance, Dayja glanced pointedly at the bassinet in the corner that Daniel had been in when she came in yesterday. 

“C’mon, you gotta say hi to Jasmine and wash your hands.” She said quietly, not wanting to distract the uncharastically occupied kids milling about. 

Clint nodded, and after glancing at him, she really hoped that she was misinterpreting the look on his face when he looked at the kids. 

They found Jasmine sitting in the rocking chair, feeding a sleepy Daniel. The somehow still excited alpha female nodded at Clint in a sign of acknowledgement, but said to Sofia, “Have him wash his hands.”

The sink was by the double doors, on the side of the makeshift day care, and she stood by a bit awkwardly for Clint to wash his hands first, then washed her own. 

“They’re not used to too much alpha scent, and that with all the outside stuff overwhelms them sometimes.” Clint nodded and dried his hands with a paper towel. 

“So, there’s always cleaning and shit we could do, but we can leave that for the people that are getting paid to be here. It’s almost five, so almost dinner, they’re gonna need their hands washed in maybe ten or so minutes, and most of the babies are busy, but Dayja just got her hair done so she’s not gonna wanna risk that, so let’s see if she’s done reading.”

Clint nodded, and her timing seemed to be right as Dayja had just closed the book and a few kids were already up and running. 

A familiar hand slapped softly at her knee, and wordlessly, she bent down to pick the one year old up. 

“He garga-tuban.” Samuel mumbled into her ear, and Sofia smiled at the way he stumbled over the word. 

“Gargantuan?”

The boy’s eyebrows furrowed for a bit in concentration, but eventually he nodded quickly in agreement. 

“He’s not too much bigger than Mr. Chase from upstairs.”

“Nuh-uh,” the boy retorted with wide eyes on Clint’s form. 

“Do you wanna come here?” Clint asked in a voice that sounded like something you’d use on scared animals. 

The boy nodded tentatively, and reached an arm towards Clint, his other hand in his mouth. 

Sofia regretted inviting him instantly, and she was pretty sure her ovaries were going to combust. 

Samuel was a light skinned little thing, and though no one knew, she suspected he was either some form of african descent mixed with either white or hispanic. His curls were unruly enough that some of the older black girls tried to keep him still long enough so it could be styled, but almost always failed, and he had big hazel eyes that reflected every bit of light near them. 

The sight of the two of them holding a not so quiet, but obviously private conversation forced her to turn her gaze on where Dayja was dividing some of the kids between the puzzles and building blocks. 

Knowing an opportunity when presented with one, she nodded at Clint that it was okay for him to sit on the couch, and headed for the corner where Dayja was half heartedly dragging one of the kids away from the paints. Instead of getting over there though, she felt something get pushed into her chest. 

She squeaked in shock, but still brought her arms around Daniel’s sleeping form. 

“He won’t stay and it's too close to dinner to argue.” Sofia just nodded, and turned back to Clint who’d taken to telling Samuel what was hopefully a heavily watered down story. She sat down on the couch, though it was hard to keep the amount of distance she would have liked when Clint’s form took up most of it. 

“Holy shi-oot!” She heard come from one of the middle school boys. He had a toddler whose hand was wrapped in his hair and kicking him in the chest. While she was sympathetic, she froze as soon as she heard it. The one thing Jasmine was strict about when it came to helping in the nursery was no cursing in front of the little ones. Earlier, she hadn’t really minded, but it was only because she knew she wouldn’t be heard. 

Jasmine shot the boy a withering look, but otherwise kept lining up kids so they could wash their hands. 

“We don’t mess with Jasmine,” she whispered to Clint who shot her a questioning look while Samuel nodded strongly in his arms. 

“Sofie I hold baby?” He asked quietly, and Sofia’s eyes shot between Jasmine and Samuel. 

“Sammy, don’t ask that.” Samuel nodded, as solemnly as a one year old could, then pressed his face into Clint’s chest and took an obvious breath. 

Mortified, Sofia patted on the child’s back while apologizing to Clint, “I’m so sorry, he doesn’t really meet new people, oh my God, Sammy you can’t just sniff people.” 

“Sofia, he needs his hands washed!” Jasmine shouted, already helping a few of the kids wash their hands. 

“Sorry, uhh gotta switch.” She held out an arm to Samuel, who pouted but shifted over to sit between her and Clint instead. Sure, she’d be able to hold Daniel and wash Samuel’s hands, but she wouldn’t be any use helping the one year old wash his hands while holding the newborn. 

“Actually, I don’t really know how-oh hey little guy,” Clint started but cut himself off when Sofia just settled the baby on his chest. 

“Sofia, I’m gonna drop him.”

“No you won’t, and if you hold him too tight, he’ll let you know. Just listen out ‘cause he’s real quiet.”

“Sofie, he looks like he’s gonna shit himself.” Dayja muttered in her ear as she stood holding Samuel’s hand. 

She spared a glance back at Clint, who didn’t look as scared as he had when she first gave him the baby. 

“He’ll live, I think.”

~~~~

“But why can’t I just give you the stuff?” Sofia asked Rose and Lisa, though the words were said to the ceiling of her closet as she fiddled with the wire of her headphones. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her head hurt from all of the crying she’d been doing. Worse still, when she wasn’t paying attention, a few stray tears fell from her eyes. 

Though she couldn’t see it, she practically felt Rose roll her eyes at the question and respond with a sigh and a hint of remorse,  _ “She said some shit about closure Sofie, I don’t fucking know man.” _

_ “Look at it this way, at least you won’t have to see her after Wednesday?” _

Sofia rolled onto her side, and gave her phone screen a dubious look. 

“I should set her shit on fire outside her grandma’s house.”

She heard a sardonic laugh come from Rose, and saw Lisa give the camera a dirty look, but everyone knew she wouldn’t do it. 

Probably. 

“If she tries to give me my stuff back, I'm smashing her nose in.” At the twin looks of reprimand she got from Rose and Lisa, she continued, “Dude, she called me a dumb, fat, ugly, inconsiderate whore, and  _ then _ ,” Sofia’s voice cracked, but she’d never admit to it, “went off about how much I’ve been holding her back for no reason since we met and how now she’s free shes gonna go off with her boo and live a happily ever after. If I wanna dream about setting her on fire, I will.” 

Lisa nodded in understanding, and Rose looked like she was about to say something before she threw her head back and shouted out _ “Si tu novio no te mama el culo,”  _ prompting her and Lisa to finish the line by shouting out  _ “Pa’ eso que no mame _ ,” in chorus. 

Once the impromptu bout of singing finished, they all had smiles on their faces, and with a forlorn sigh, Sofia pushed herself out of the nest and slid into a pair of shoes before deciding she’d probably need real clothes to go to the store. She eyed her dresser dubiously, and took a few steps towards it. 

Surely, she wasn’t so sad, she’d go out in three year old leggings and an even older Batman t-shirt. 

“Come on guys, gonna go eat my weight in rocky road.” 

Her friends let out cheers, and then had their own conversation as Sofia put on her shoes and a sweater big enough it wouldn’t be visible she didn’t have a bra on, having decided she  _ was _ sad enough not to wear real pants to go to the store. She didn’t mind the other two having their own conversation, rather the words flowing over her were more comforting than not. 

Sofia grabbed some cash that was on her desk, shut the door, and made her way out of the orphanage. It was nearing ten o’clock, so she had some time left.

_ “Sofia what store are you  _ going _ to?” _ Lisa asked after a few minutes, forgetting just how desolated the area around the orphanage was in some respects. 

_ “Right? It's like she lives in ‘Bumfuck of nowhere, Brooklyn’ sometimes.” _

“It’s ‘cause I live in ‘Bumfuck of nowhere, Brooklyn’ man.” Sofia answered as she got into the store. 

“Chunky monkey?”

_ “Didn’t you want rocky road?” _ Lisa asked, having taken her video off of pause. 

“Changed my mind.” Sofia grabbed the chunky monkey, then after a small amount of deliberation, grabbed a second one and a rocky road just for the sake of it.

“What no bacon egg and cheese?” The man behind the counter asked with a wry smile. 

Sofia laughed slightly despite herself, and responded with “Nah ock, I’ll probably come Monday morning for a baconeggandcheese.”

“On a roll with avocado and hot sauce?”

“Maybe,” Sofia said, grabbed the black bag with her things, and turned to leave the small store. She still had a little less than an hour until midnight, and though she would have loved to take her time, it was colder than she was comfortable with. 

“You guys dead yet?” She asked her friends, who gave unintelligible noises in response. 

For the most part, the three didn’t speak, but Sofia still liked the company that the call offered. She made it to the orphanage quickly, and without seeing many other people since this was one of the only parts of the city that  _ did _ sleep. 

The elevator ride to her floor was likewise silent, and the floor with her dormitories had all of the doors closed and only one of the sophomore boys was on the couch. 

“Guys I’m bored,” she complained as she slipped out of her sneakers and pulled off her sweater. Rose and Lisa didn’t respond as she put away two ice cream pints and grabbed a fork from her counter. 

_ “Are you eating ice cream with a fork?” _ Sofia nodded at Lisa, forkful of ice cream halfway to her mouth. 

_ “You’re a fucking psychopath” _ Rose intoned, not completely feigned horror in her eyes. 

“And you’re a bitch.”

Rose nodded her agreement to the statement, while Lisa just got up to get something, leaving her phone on a table or counter most likely. 

“I should watch porn and see if he says anything.” Sofia said, eyes on her new laptop that she hadn’t had much of a chance to set up. 

_ “Oh my God, yes!” _ Rose squealed, and while Sofia was slightly mortified at the idea of Tony knowing she was watching porn, she was also curious as to just how mortified he’d be knowing she was watching porn. 

Just as she put her ice cream to lean against a pillow on her bed and went to get her laptop, she heard a sharp,  _ “Sofia no!” _ from Lisa. 

_ “You should put on that BDSM alpha and alpha shit.” _

Sofia glanced appreciatively at Rose, then gave the little square with Lisa’s face a considerate look. 

Decision made, she opened up her laptop, signed in, and went to Pornhub. 

“Two men? Or a man and a woman? I can’t find two wome-oh shit, I found a roleplay where Iron Man ties up Captain America.”

Rose chanted out,  _ “Do it, do it!” _ while Lisa shook her head, and Sofia just hovered the mouse over the link. Up until now, she hadn’t even risked going on her tumblr on her phone, purely out of fear of Tony checking her website history. 

Sure, he hadn’t outright said he would, but the orphanage moderated their things, and it was only normal for them to do so. 

Not wanting to back out, she clicked on the link then hastily muted the video. 

“Holy fucking shitballs Batman,” Sofia muttered, eyes on the screen. The man playing Iron Man looked nothing like the actual Tony Stark, and she couldn’t see the Captain America actor’s face. Wordlessly, she held the screen so that Rose and Lisa could see. 

She was pretty sure Lisa spit out her drink, and Rose just choked on air. 

_ “Sofia, turn the volume on I wanna hear.” _ Rose said after a second, and hesitantly, Sofia turned the volume on low and unplugged her headphones so they could hear. 

The ‘Iron Man’ was berating the ‘Captain America’ for one thing or another, and the ‘Captain America’ was fake moaning to the point where Sofia laughed in spite of the staged seriousness in the video. 

_ “Never mind gotta kill myself now.” _ Rose said, sounding slightly nauseous. 

Sofia agreed, and put it on mute before just closing the page entirely. 

“Well that was a failed science experiment.” Sofia opened Instagram on her phone instead, and scrolled through a few things she’d already seen. A minute or two into her scrolling, she paused at a certain post from Raya, and realized the beta hadn’t unfollowed her. 

Something cracked inside of the omega at the sight of the obviously happy beta, and Sofia let out a huff of air that sounded more tearful than she meant for it to. 

_ “I gotta go,” _ she heard at the same time as a  _ “Sorry, but I needa hang up now.” _

She bid her friends her own farewell, then stared at the Instagram post silently while eating another bite of ice cream. 

Her phone dinged with a message just as she scrubbed at her eyes for the upteenth time. 

_ Steve: Sofia, why? _

_ Tony: Sofia, it's better in person. Trust me. _

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are so nice, and your comments are super encouraging. I also wanted to say that if anyone had any ideas I'm more than open to them. For right now, I have a loose calendar I planned out for this au, for example next chapter is Bucky, and then I think either the chapter after or two chapters after is Bruce, but other than that I don't really have much plans. On the off chance you go to catholic high school in NYC, that's the calendar I'm using as a base, but she graduates on the regular graduation date for NY state. Also if you have any recommendations of fics to read, I'd love them.....I'm bored guys


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/22/20

When Sofia woke up on Sunday morning, it was to the sound of blaring alarms and a dull ache in her head. A quick glance at the time showed that not only was her phone near dead, but that she only had an hour to shower, get dressed, and grab breakfast. 

Silently, she cursed herself for her poor time management skills, even though she knew that for the most part an hour would be just less than enough time for her to shower and dress. Though, that was also if she skipped breakfast and didn’t put on makeup. 

Now though, in light of what Clint said, and how he’d basically told her they thought she couldn’t remember to feed herself, she  _ had _ to eat breakfast. 

With a sigh, she rolled out of bed, put her phone to charge, and grabbed her towel. She slid her feet into a pair of slides she usually used to walk to and from the shower, then tried to run a hand through her hair before she realized she’d slept with it in a bun. 

Annoyed, she put her towel down on the counter in her room and brushed through her hair quickly, already knowing she’d have to wash the tangled mess. 

She spent most of her shower torn between falling asleep against the wall and actually bathing, but emerged clean twenty minutes later, skin pink from the heat of the shower and steam drifting from her skin. 

Sofia stared at her reflection in the mirror blankly, and prodded at the puffy skin under her eyes with a purple fingernail before sighing and heading back to her room. 

“Botanical Gardens right? The fuck do I wear to the Botanical Gardens?” She asked, pulling open her drawers to stare at the mess of long sleeved shirts she never bothered to organize. After a minute of rifling through her clothes, she paused, and said out loud to herself again “Why is everything blurry?”

She grumbled, then picked up her abandoned glasses once she located them.

“Alright, if I wear a hoodie, then I won’t need a shirt, and since I’m wearing jeans, I won’t need cream on my body, and I’ll just be itchy later, and probably cold. That makes sense right Sofia?”

Sofia nodded to herself, noticed that not only did she have barely twenty minutes left to get dressed, but that her hair was still a catastrophe. 

“Fuck Sofia, you still have a headache,” She growled out at her bra before putting it on. Once it was on, she remembered that she needed to put cream on at least her face, hands, and ankles, so she pulled the container down from where it was atop the dresser, and somehow managed to stub her toe in the process. 

Afterwards, she pulled out a pair of jeans, tossed it onto her bed once she noticed they were ripped, and repeated the process three times before she found a non-ripped pair and shimmied into them. They were a blue so light they were nearly white, and nowhere near her favorite, but they’d do for the time being. 

Jeans on, she opened the door to the hallway and mentally rifled through who had something she could put in her hair that wouldn’t need anymore attention. 

She was pretty sure that one of the sophomores had mousse, and if not him then maybe one of the girls, she wasn’t sure. 

But, she had fifteen minutes left, and needed to be dressed, still had to brush her teeth, and had to find something to eat, so she grabbed her brush and made her way to the sophomore’s door. 

“Ethan, wake the fuck up, I need your mousse!” She banged on the door with one hand and rushed to detangle her hair with the other. 

Ethan was tall, taller than her and probably over six feet, and muscled like a brick wall with tanned skin and nearly black eyes. 

He growled at her halfheartedly, moose in one hand, and said, “Flip your hair, last time I let you put it in, you used half the can.”

Sofia gave the sophomore a halfhearted glare, but flipped her head so he could put mousse in it, then took over, spreading the product to her roots and throughout her hair. 

“Sofia? You’re supposed to be downstairs,” Chase asked from the couch, half turned so he could see her still rubbing at her scalp, brush clenched between her thighs. 

“Sofia,” the Den Alpha said slowly in that tone that said he was growing more and more exasperated with her, “Why don’t you have on a shirt?”   
  


“It's a process Chase,” she made her way over to her room as she said that, then started brushing her teeth once she got there. 

At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to grab breakfast, but she would also be lucky if she made it downstairs anywhere near twelve. 

While she was brushing her teeth, she scanned the room, noticing that it was more than a catastrophe, but also noticing one of her dark grey hoodies strewn over her desk. After she brushed her teeth, she pulled it on. It was nearly as soft as her black one, but small enough that it didn’t look oversized while also not looking tight. She didn’t wear it all the time, but still wore it often enough that it’d take more than a few washes to remove her scent from it properly. 

She stuffed her feet into a beat up pair of hightop black converse, slid her ID card into her bra alongside some cash just in case, and unplugged her phone which was nowhere near as charged as she wished it was. As a last minute thought, she put on some powder and a bit of mascara so that her puffy eyes weren’t too noticeable, brushed the excess off of the collar of her hoodie, and set out. 

“Thank you very much,” she said to Dayja while she was waiting for the elevator, and grabbed the girl’s already bitten into bagel. It was most of a bagel with only a bite or so taken from it, and she would have felt bad if it wasn’t that she knew it was from the provided breakfast downstairs. 

Dayja cursed at her, but the elevator had already gotten there so she just got in and smiled bashfully at her friend. 

The way she scarfed down the bagel was nowhere near as carrierlike as she was taught to be, and even  _ less _ omegalike, but she still managed to finish before she got to the ground floor. 

She counted it as a win. 

When the elevator door opened, Anna was standing outside, waiting to get in with a cup of iced coffee in hand. Sofia tried not to stare at it lustily, but she was pretty sure she failed if the way Anna pressed it into her hands with a “You need it more than me, I’ll get another,” was any indication.

Sofia was only able to say “I fucking love you,” before she got out of the elevator, and Anna turned back around to get herself more coffee. 

She half expected Bucky to already be waiting outside, but she definitely  _ didn’t  _ expect him to be wearing a tight, form fitted, black leather jacket, and jeans that weren’t quite skinny jeans, but definitely fitted him better than any pair of jeans had the right to. She nearly choked on her slightly too bitter coffee, which was before she noticed the red Henley stretched across his chest. 

“Hey,” his voice was gruff but somehow sincere at the same time, and in contrast his scent was only slightly guarded in a way she knew was pure reflex since hers did the same sometimes. 

Sofia waved shyly, teeth worrying at the straw between her lips. 

“You look nice, and you’re uh, probably gonna wanna finish that, I got my bike,” He rubbed at his neck with a hand, making her notice that he was wearing leather gloves as well. 

“Oh, uh, sorry, I woke up late,” Sofia rushed out, cheeks pink from embarrassment, then said tentatively, “Do you want some? It was my friend’s but I-uhh, don’t think she drank from it? It needs more sugar though.”   
  


The alpha in front of her shrugged, and took the cup from her. She tried to keep her eyes off of the cup and the way it was dwarfed by his hand, and soon enough, she had something else to look at. Sadly, it wasn’t the way his lips wrapped around the straw. 

Bucky’s eyes had gone wide, and he let a harsh sounding breath through his nose. 

“Sofia,” he said, scrunching his nose and staring at the coffee cup in distaste and slight fear, “I like sweet shit, I swear I do, but that tastes like a recipe for a diabetic coma.”

Brows furrowed in confusion, Sofia took the coffee back and took another sip of the still not sweet enough drink. 

“But it's bitter?”

“Drink the fuckin’ sugar Sofia, we don’t got all day.”

Sofia obliged, letting out a huff of air before finishing the drink as fast as she could, and before she knew it, she was able to throw the empty cup in the garbage. 

“Shit Sofia, that was fast.” Bucky said, and she had to chant to herself silently  _ no dirty jokes, no dirty jokes, come on Sofia, no dirty jokes,  _ before she was able to respond with, “We’re only allowed to drink water in school.”

“So you’re an olympic gulper now?”

_ No dirty jokes Sofia. _   
  
“Have you ever stared in the eyes of a scary nun?”

“Yup, even though I’m fuggin’ Jewish.”

“That’s fantastic man,” Sofia said, laughing at the absurdity even though it made a good amount of sense. For the most part, the nuns she knew didn’t  care  _ who _ you were, if they saw something they thought was bullshit, they said it. 

Bucky walked them towards the everpresent sign out sheet that was on the receptionist’s desk, and signed her out quickly. She wanted to ask why, but she was pretty sure he’d tell her it was just in case they didn’t get back in time. 

“You know,” he said casually as they walked outside, “You  _ will _ have to put the helmet on, right?”

Sofia’s response was out of her mouth before she realized it, and she said quickly, “Bucky, no.”

“Sofia, helmet.” 

  
“Bucky, my hair’s wet, it'll be more fucked than the  _ economy _ .”

“Sofia, you need to protect your head. It’s for your own good.” Bucky said, amusement lighting up his features. 

“Bucky, it’s all empty air anyways, don’t worry.” 

Bucky glared at Sofia who just gave him a raised brow. 

The alpha just narrowed his eyes, and faster than she thought someone could move, grabbed the smaller helmet that was hanging from a handle of the bike, and slid it onto her head. 

Her shout sounded more like a squeal, and she slapped at his hands while they buckled the helmet, but her efforts proved fruitless. 

“Well, now it’s protected air,” he said, putting on his own helmet and rapping his knuckles against hers. 

“It’s gonna be hard to hear me, but listen up, gonna get a history lesson.” 

Confused, Sofia nodded at him, then with a nod of his own, he swung a leg over the black and silver motorcycle, then slid back enough that it was obvious she’d be sitting in front of him rather than behind him. When she swung her own leg over the side, she was half surprised she didn’t kick anything she wasn’t supposed to, then with one leg on the ground, Bucky used the other to nudge her foot to rest atop something. Instinctively, she found the matching rest with her other foot, and was quickly torn between grabbing the front of the bike and leaning into the solid wall of muscle behind her. 

Both were, of course, to help her balance better. 

While she was still contemplating on how the fuck she’d gotten herself into that situation, Bucky took off and quickly gained speed, though he slowed down once they made it to one of the more populated streets. 

It was a few minutes into the ride that she realized what he meant. He slowed down a bit, and gestured with a hand off to the side. 

“So that over there, it used to be a way bigger alley, full of trash, found Steve getting the shit beat outta ‘im, first time he ever got his nose broke.” 

Sofia barely heard him over the roaring of the wind in her ears combined with the sound of the engine, and felt herself laugh though she couldn’t really hear it. 

After that, her hindbrain forced her forebrain into allowing her body to relax, and though she kept enough restraint not to sink backwards into him, slumped slightly and rested her hands on her knees like she’d seen some other people do. 

His arms were on either side of hers, and served to bracket her in. 

“Next part of the lesson, over there? In front of the church, Punk broke someone  _ else’s _ nose for the first time, but if you ask, he’ll tell you it was the third or some shit.”

They parked not far from the entrance to the Botanical Gardens a few minutes after that, and made their way to the entrance where Bucky pulled his wallet from his jacket so he could pay for their tickets. 

For the most part, they just meandered around without a particular destination in mind, and the conversation flowed easily. Sarcastic remarks flowed between them easily, and though she wasn’t  _ quite _ sure, she was pretty sure he was flirting with her. 

Of course, they were vastly different, but part of her was comforted that through the age, time, and sex they managed to find things in common. Hours passed by easily as they walked between rows of flower bushes and saw all sorts of birds fly past and above them. 

Sofia turned a bit, without meaning to, and they wound up on some sort of dock with benches. She hadn’t been to this part in a while, but she would recognize the Japanese style architecture and inspiration in which this portion was built. Bucky nodded at one of the benches, and with a smile, the two sat. 

They weren’t quite pressed together, but were able to relax with the ease of people who’d seen it before, and who knew they would be able to come back if they so choose.

“Last time I came here,” Sofia said, smile easy and thankful that the helmet hadn’t ruined her hair completely, “it was with a friend, and we sat right here and watched this girl fall into the pond ‘cause she kept looking for a angle to take a picture of her friend.”

“That’s the stupidest shit I ever heard,” he snorted out a laugh and put an arm over her shoulder. The area around them wasn’t quiet in the least,but it reminded Sofia of taking the train a bit. 

True to the New Yorker stereotype, no one really paid any others apart from their own party much mind, and everyone either ambled about or stood in certain parts. 

Sofia rested her head on Bucky’s side, almost right atop his chest. He smiled down at her, and pulled her tighter against him. 

“This is nice,” she murmured just loud enough he could barely hear her, while she tried to figure out what to do with her hands. He hummed, and said, “Let’s keep going, we’ll get lunch soon, then we could go to the museum if you want.”

“Only ‘cause it’s a art museum,” Sofia murmured again, and when she saw the slightly confused look he gave her she continued, “if they had real exhibits, they’d probably keep you.”

“Brat,” Bucky huffed automatically, though like Sofia, the word didn’t have any real heat. 

~~~~

Bucky’s brows narrowed slightly as he looked around where he and Sofia had been browsing some artwork on the walls. Last he’d seen her, she’d been by his side, rambling on about something while he read the description. 

He let a slow breath out of his mouth and started walking towards the corner, not wanting to make a scene just in case she’d walked off herself, but also mentally going through a list of worst case scenarios. 

The omega was on the other side of the floor, in the Egyptian section, reading something that was next to a statue in a glass display case. Panic left his chest at the sight, and tightness settled into ease. 

“Sofia, you can’t just run off.” He tried to berate her gently, but she just pouted a bit, and it made something in him melt. 

“But I walked.”

“You’re a fucking smart ass, now the fuck is this?” He asked, and hoped the way he watched her from his prephiary as he trained his eyes on the statue. 

“So apparently, the Egyptians didn’t believe that women could pass through the afterlife, so alpha females were doomed as fuck, and beta and omega females somehow hadda turn into men when they died and then turn back into themselves. It’s really cool.” 

“What about alpha females?”

“Says they split inta two, a beta female, and an alpha male, then the beta female becomes a guy, then after death they turn back and rejoin.”

Bucky hummed, and his mind flashed back to the image of Sofia licking ketchup from her thumb while they were eating lunch earlier. 

He felt a tug on his arm pull him from his reverie, and he let Sofia drag him around the exhibit. 

First, her movements were predictable as she went clockwise around the exhibit, but after she’d stopped at them all, she turned and started zigzagging around the side of the floor they were on. 

Her movements garnered Bucky a sympathetic look from one of the other alphas who was in a similar situation, and while Bucky was glad Sofia didn’t notice, he knew the female wasn’t being an asshole. 

Hell, if the way her own omega clutched her hand and looked around as if he was wondering where to run off to next, she’d been at it longer than he had. Another tug on his hand brought his eyes from the omega’s face to her hand where she was jostling and pulling at his arm. 

“Hi, yes down here,” she said, and Bucky felt a brow arch in response, “Bucky, we’re  _ moving _ ,” she stressed the last word and tugged again at his arm. 

And, because he could, he glanced down at himself, then at her pointedly and said, “Not really.”

Sofia’s huff of annoyed air made a smile tease on his lips, and she gave him a challenging look that he matched in full force, curious as to how long it would take her to look away and break eye contact. So far, though he wasn’t sure if it was a result of instinct or nervousness, Sofia hadn’t made eye contact with him for more than a few seconds. 

When her eyes widened in realization of his intentions, he had to hold himself back from laughing again. She managed to keep the eye contact for nearly a minute, before she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to draw attention away from her redding cheeks and the embarrassment in her scent. 

“Aww, don’t get all pouty on me, come on where’d you wanna go,” Bucky’s sympathetic words were contrasted by the grin on his lips and the hint of laughter in his voice, but thankfully Sofia didn’t notice. Instead, pout still on her face, the omega spun on the balls of her feet and started walking towards the elevator. 

He gave the alpha female from before a smile when he saw how the two omegas were giving each other exasperated looks while seeming to have a conversation with eye contact alone. 

“What was that about?” Bucky asked once the elevator doors closed. 

But, Sofia just smiled at him in a way that showed she was electing not to tell him her thoughts. Though he was intrigued, he was more amused than not, so he didn’t push her for an answer. He used a hand on the small of her back to push her towards the elevator doors once they arrived at the next floor. 

When Sofia reached back impatiently to grab his hand, he felt his hindbrain preen and not for the first time, urge him to take her home for his pack. 

He could see it now, her heat triggered by their mating bites, sprawled out in the nesting room for them, pale skin flushed and-

He cut himself off of that line of thinking, not wanting to risk his musings turning into full on arousal. 

And if anything, his imagination had her at their real den upstate, so it actually  _ couldn’t  _ happen. 

Sofia had led them towards a picture of what looked like a club from years ago. The woman in the dress didn’t have one exactly like the women he remembered singing at clubs, but it looked as if she was inspired by the fashion. 

The sight reminded Bucky of a time long past, and of nights he would spend dancing, drinking, and feeling  _ alive. _ It also reminded him how one day, after she was theirs, he wanted to take her out dancing. 

“I should take you dancing,” he said aloud, and Sofia’s head turned towards him from where she’d been reading the little description of the photograph. 

“I’m, uh-pretty fucking clumsy, but I’ll try.” Sofia looked at a spot on his chest, and Bucky didn’t fight the urge to smile at her. 

“You are, but you’re not terrible.” He assured her and squeezed her hand for the sole fact that he could. She gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him, but rather than say anything, just gently tugged him towards another exhibit. 

He didn’t remember much of the museum, the last time he’d been there was nineteen-forty-two, when him and Steve had snuck in. It was the middle of the night, but the then smaller alpha had wanted nothing more than to see one of the new paintings. They’d ended up running for their lives after they were found by a guard, and Steve’s asthma hadn’t let him forget it for nearly two weeks after, but he’d do it again in a heartbeat. 

When Sofia put a tentative hand on a glass display with dozens of paintings, he realized that she wore the same look of awe that Steve did all those years ago. 

Part of him, though mainly just his hindbrain, wanted to see if they wore the same face while being fucked as well, but he wouldn’t pay the thought too much mind until he got home. 

~~~~

On the TV, Monica and Rachel were arguing over one thing or another, and Sofia felt Dayja laughing at the sight, body rumbling with unbridled joy. She herself wasn’t paying much attention to the show, but she smiled regardless at her friend’s obvious joy. 

“Sofia, go clean.” Chase said while he settled himself on the sofa. Sofia heard, and decided to ignore him, and just snuggled further into the other girl. Chase growled unhappily and pushed his scent outwards so his displeasure started to permeate the room. 

Normally, his emotions didn’t bleed into his scent, so Sofia knew it was mostly so she’d do what he wanted. If anyone else did it, she’d be annoyed at the obvious manipulation, but she did it to most people in order to get what she wanted. 

“Sofia Anne, so help me God if you don’t have that room cleaned by ten o’clock, I will put you over my knee and  _ then _ make you clean.” Chase threatened, not even bothering to move off of where he was sitting on the couch, but leaning forward to grow again. Sofia looked back at him from where she was laying with her head on Dayja’s shoulder. 

Sofia whined into her friend’s shoulder, unwilling to get up from her comfortable position. It was Sunday, which while earlier had meant it was her day to spend with Bucky, also meant it was when she needed to start her homework, and clean. 

Dayja just patronizingly patted her shoulder and shoved her so she nearly fell off of the sofa. With a groan and a threatening glare from Chase, she shuffled over to her door to start cleaning. The small room was still in the same state of disarray it had been in when she left. 

Clothes were strewn over her bed and desk, her backpack had half spilled onto the floor from where she’d stumbled over it, and there were a few other things on the floor that shouldn’t have been there. What was worst of all though, was that inside her drawers, her clothes were only thrown in rather than folded the way she knew Chase would want them. 

Folding some of the clothes and laying them on top of the unfolded ones would be the easiest, but last time she’d done that Chase had seen, laughed, and dragged the drawer out to show everyone what happened when you tried to cheat your way out of chores. 

It was safe to say that not only had she found looking the others in the eye hard the next day, but that she hadn’t tried to do it again. 

What little was left of her survival instinct brought her to pull the drawers out and start dumping clothes. Folding and rearranging the clothes took well over an hour, and by the time she was done, she wanted to collapse in her nest and hide from the world.

The disarray that was the rest of the room didn’t let her though, so she wound up throwing most of the contents of her desk into her backpack and closing the bag so she wouldn’t have to clean the surface. 

Her bed and the top of her drawers were next, but instead of making the bed, she pulled the quilt over the pillows and tucked it under so it looked made, and dumped the contents of her drawers inside of her backpack as well. 

She made an overly dramatic gesture at Chase from her doorway so he’d come in and check the room, and he did so with a roll of his eyes and an amused chuckle, he did so. 

“It’s okay,” he said, running a finger over nonexistent dust, “but next week I expect you to actually clean.”

Sofia suppressed her annoyance, and just said, “Then would you kindly get the fuck out?” 

A second passed, and Chase blinked, his previously unhappy and displeased scent strengthening again, and though her hindbrain wanted to do everything possible to please the alpha, her forebrain just hoped that his scent didn’t linger. 

He looked like he was waiting for an answer, but Sofia wasn’t in the mood. She’d had to move from her comfy spot on the couch, she still had homework to do, and most importantly, and she’d been half asleep earlier as well. All she was able to offer the increasingly annoyed male in her room was a sardonic “Please?”

Chase narrowed his eyes and let out another rumble of displeasure, but still left the room. Sofia shut the door behind him just hard enough it didn’t outright slam. 

She sat down and stared at the wall that her desk faced before taking out her school things. Her work consisted of a small calculus assignment, she was supposed to read a passage she could just ask someone about instead, and thankfully that was it. 

On the downside however, the teacher had been in an especially shitty mood on Friday, which meant that he gave them thirty questions on things she had no clue how to do, and most of them were short answer. 

Even worse, she had calculus early in the morning so she couldn’t get anyone else’s work. She texted a friend just in case, made sure to put leave her ringer on, and started on some of the stuff she recognized. Math was one of the few things that she was able to focus on easily, but that was only really when she knew what was going on. Now though, she was torn between looking through formulas, chegg, quizlet, and thinking about all of the plot holes in  _ The Vampire Diaries _ . 

When she was halfway towards saying fuck it all and curling up in her nest while scrolling through tumblr, her phone dinged with a message that said she had to read athe passage. Confused, she opened the thread and found that there were ten or so pictures of all of the calculus questions with the work. 

Sofia smiled in relief, responded to the message, and pulled out her laptop so she could read the passage where it had been posted in GoogleClassroom. 

It was a short excerpt from a book she was supposed to have read in fifth grade, but had elected not to, so she was only somewhat familiar with the plot. Her phone dinged, almost too loudly, and she was startled from where she’d started to try and pay attention. 

It was a game request in the group chat for uno, and it made Sofia look at her phone, her laptop, and back before she decided. 

On one hand, she had to read the passage so she could return the favor to her friend, but on the other, she could probably read it either on the train ride to school or during homeroom. 

Decision made, she shut the laptop, put it to charge, and then pulled the things she’d shoved in her backpack earlier out so she could put them back on her desk. 

She would probably lose most of the games they played, but it was better than doing her homework. It was as she played her first card that she remembered she still had to copy the calculus answers and groaned.    
  


  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, like you probably saw above, I started adding the dates I had in mind to the chapter notes, for those of you that subscribed you can go back and check and it might help put things a bit more in perspective, but if you're new here hey you're probably an awesome person. We had a bit of Bucky's POV, but I don't know if I'm gonna really switch around anymore, let me know if you like it or prefer keeping to hers please.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/25/20 & 3/26/20

Quickly, before her homeroom teacher could make her another victim, Sofia stuffed her sandwich into her backpack. It was still in the paper bag from the deli, but smelled like food strongly enough that she knew where the angry, forty year old Spaniard woman would look next. 

Even so, as she went to put the black garbage bag full of Raya’s things in her locker, she wasn’t spared from the scathing look that said her teacher knew about the food. She left with her backpack before the bell rang, and went to the back staircase so she could eat at least half of her sandwich. 

She stood alone in the corner of the stairwell and managed to eat part of her sandwich while scrolling through instagram before someone came up to her. 

It was another omega, from the Fort Greene Omega Orphanage. They were friends, in a looser sense of the word, but most of that was because they weren’t able to spend much time with each other. 

They’d known each other since their high school readiness classes the summer before freshman year, and oftentimes were able to speak for hours on end. The conversations were about anything and everything, and Sofia cherished them. 

Furthermore, if there was anything Sofia knew about Josephine, it was that the slightly younger omega was worse at time management than her, and never had time to eat breakfast at the orphanage. There had been a point during their sophomore year where Sofia had basically given up and started bringing them both breakfast to eat in this very stairwell. 

“Hey, wanna bite?” She said, anticipating the other girl’s question. 

The other girl nodded, relieved, and Sofia paused before handing over the sandwich, “Do you want half instead?”

Noticing the other girl’s hesitation, she paused but continued anyways, “Don’t worry Josie, I got a bag of chips I’ll be fine.” 

Josephine looked like she was contemplating something, but eventually nodded. Sofia didn’t mind giving the other girl her food, especially since it’d been done for her on more than one occasion. The only reason she lied about having the chips in the first place was because she knew the girl wouldn’t take the sandwich if she didn’t. 

She gave the other girl the half that was left of the sandwich she had in the paper bag, and received a hug in return. Unthinkingly, she sunk into the contact, and tightened her arms around the other girl. 

“Shit, Sofia you’re a lifesaver.” 

“Dude, fuck else would I be?”

The bell rang, and Sofia headed downstairs, finishing her chopped cheese as she went. 

In her opinion, Wednesday had come far too fast. As the day went on, it felt like it went even faster, and before she knew it, the bell to mark the end of eighth period rang, which meant that Sofia was free to leave for all intents and purposes. 

However, today it meant that she needed to get back to her locker, then downstairs so she could give Raya her clothes back. 

Rose was waiting for her in her homeroom and offered her an apologetic shoulder shrug when she got the plastic bag out. The night before, she’d washed all of the clothes on the harshest setting she could find, then put them into a garbage bag that was supposed to be able to neutralize scents. The bag wasn’t heavy, but it was still some of the most significant weight she’d ever felt as she and Rose snuck in the elevator to get downstairs to the library. 

Raya wasn’t there yet, which only served to put Sofia further on edge. If she didn’t leave soon, the school would either kick her out, or make her go back to class. Rose just put a comforting arm around her and squoze her a bit. Something inside of Sofia relaxed slightly, but for the most part, she was itching to just get to her room already. 

Bruce was supposed to pick her up around five, which left her with only a few hours to get back to the orphanage and shower. It took another ten minutes of the bitter old librarian giving her and Rose dirty looks for Raya to emerge from the elevator. For some reason, it wasn’t the scent of anger that emitted from the usually peaceful beta that caught her attention, but the way the visitor’s sticker stuck out against the light blue of her jeans. 

Raya didn’t say anything to Rose, for which Sofia was grateful. She didn’t mind that they were probably still friends, but for the moment, she needed Rose’s support. 

“You put my clothes in a fucking garbage bag?” Raya asked, looking at the bag. 

Sofia didn’t think before she responded and so wound up saying, “Least I didn’t set it on fire like the trash it is.”

She put the bag on the floor between them, but instead of grabbing it, Raya stepped around the bag and slapped Sofia. Out of pure instinct, Sofia reacted, slipping her backpack from where it was hanging on her right shoulder and swinging a fist out at Raya. 

Raya took the hit with a grunt and returned in full force, reminding Sofia of all the years the beta had spent in kickboxing classes. The omega didn’t know what either of them was doing, and the sounds of cursing and shouting from others faded in and out of her ears in a blur. 

She was almost sure that something gave under her hand, but before she could process it, she felt familiar hands on her waist. 

She didn’t need to look to know that it was Rose, one of the best friends she’d made in her life. Rose, who’d always gotten her out of the shittiest situations imaginable, and then had been there to help her through the damage it caused. But, it was the same Rose whose uncles were in gangs and the military, who’d been learning to defend herself since before she was old enough to understand that there was a need to do so. 

Rose didn’t hit her like Sofia knew the beta wanted to, but instead wrapped her arms around her so tightly that Sofia didn’t even want to fight. The nasty librarian Sofia never liked was standing between them and Raya, each hand held out on either side of her. 

“That is enough ladies, I cannot-” Sofia stopped listening to the woman’s nasally voice, she was just over it all. 

The principal, Mrs. Gomez, a short, mean beta woman was standing to Sofia’s left, and just made a sharp gesture in the direction of her office. Sofia wasn’t bleeding when she raised a hand to pat at her face, but she could feel that the area around her cheekbone was tender to the touch. 

Rose let her go with a second reassuring squeeze and moved to leave when Mrs. Gomez gave a sharp, “I don’t think so Missy, just because you don’t go here doesn’t mean I can’t call your mother anymore.” 

There was a tense second where Rose looked like she was about to point out how that was  _ exactly _ what it meant, but she followed the small procession anyways, even being as kind as to grab the forgotten bag of clothes. 

The principal’s office wasn’t comfy by any means, and it looked completely different from the way the old principal had it two years before, but Sofia still knew the office well. There was the desk of course, and two chairs in front of it, however closer to the door was a small coffee table surrounded by four more chairs. 

The four of them wound up sitting there, Rose and Mrs. Gomez on either side of her and Raya in front of her. 

“Now, who are you staying with nowadays, Ms. Licron, your mother or grandmother?” Mrs. Gomez was typing something on her phone, and Sofia didn’t bother to hide the way she was leaning to see what it was. 

“That’s none of your business,” Raya ground out, prodding at her bruised jaw. 

But, Mrs. Gomez didn’t look up, her calm exterior combined with her scent blockers putting Sofia even further on edge. Part of her wanted to lunge over the coffee table at Raya, but the more rational part of her was worried as to what would happen when Mrs. Gomez started calling  _ her _ people. 

Her main worry was that Tony would want to take some form of legal action, but there was also nagging worry that he’d go back on the adoption deal. Then, there was the fear of the repercussions she’d face with Chase. 

“You are a visitor in  _ my  _ school, and on top of that, you attacked a minor, more specifically, an omega minor. You’re lucky I’m not calling the authorities.” 

Sofia slumped into the seat and tried to get further towards Rose. 

When Mrs. Gomez had walked towards the other end of the room to call Raya’s grandmother since the beta hadn’t given an answer, Sofia slipped her phone from her pocket with a shaking hand, and unlocked it. 

She went into the group chat, her nerves suddenly overcoming her as the severity of the situation started to really crash on her. 

_ Sofia: I can’t call you right now but I think my school’s gonna call _

_ Sofia: Please don’t let her get the cops involved _

_ Sofia: I promise I’m fine everything’s fine so just don’t call me rn _

A second passed, and Mrs. Gomez finished up with Raya’s grandmother, then turned towards the rest of them fast enough that Sofia wasn’t able to see the responses that she felt making her phone vibrate. 

“Now Ms. Sofia, either put the phone away or I’ll be taking it away.” 

Sofia nodded, then watched as the principal turned back around to presumably call Chase’s work phone. She knew he’d redirect her to Tony’s cell since he was busy handling last minute negotiations with Dayja’s alpha. 

Rather than listen to the principal though, she pulled her phone back out and checked her messages. Miraculously, it was just one from Tony, and the short message soothed something inside of her. 

_ Tony: Do you need one of us to come get you? _

Sofia didn’t get to respond before she had to flip her phone back over as Mrs. Gomez turned back towards her. 

The older woman had a pinched look on her usually expressionless face, and it made Sofia want to squirm in her seat. 

She held out an expectant hand, and Sofia rushed to type out a text message while the beta walked towards her. 

_ Sofia: Idk she’s probably gonna want it _

Sofia had just managed to press the send button for the message when the principal took the phone, and hoped that it sent. 

Rose put her hand on her arm, and she longed to curl up in her friend’s arms like she loved to do. 

But, her right hand was still stained red across the knuckles with Raya’s blood, and her own cheek hurt. She was sure that there was a handprint on it, if not a bruise. 

She wanted a shower, and her nest, though not for the first time in the past few days. Lately, it felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong, and hiding until everything worked itself out seemed like the best plan of action for her. 

“Are you fucking serious Sofia? Just like you to start all of this bull.” Raya muttered under her breath. 

Both Sofia and Rose’s eyes shot to her, both of them flashing with anger. 

Raya just continued on and said, “I’m leaving, I have a date.”

Sofia couldn’t resist the temptation to prod at the beta further, “Oh? With Mr. Super Fruit? He’d rather dig your deadbeat dad outta lockup and fuck him than you.”

Raya stood from her seat quick enough Sofia didn’t see her move and growled out, “Take it back you useless bitch.” 

Sofia and Rose stood as well, and the omega didn’t quite tower over the beta across from her, and at barely five feet tall, Rose’s height wouldn’t intimidate anyone. Regardless, the way she stood over Raya made her hindbrain preen just a bit. 

She moved to lunge over the table like she’d been itching to do, but Rose pushed her back harshly so she fell back in the seat. 

“Sit your ass down Raya,” Rose growled out in that tone that Sofia only really heard from angry alphas. 

“Rose, Raya, you’re free to go.” Mrs. Gomez said, then before the two betas left in a huff added, “If I see you here again Ms. Licron, I’ll be calling the authorities straight away.” 

Sofia stood up again to hug Rose as Raya left the office, and she pressed her face into her friend’s neck without thinking. True to her name, she smelt like roses with a hint of honeysuckle. 

The one thing she never failed to love about betas was that unlike alphas and omegas that tended to smell like the food their mother craved the most during pregnancy, they smelt like things from nature.

“Sofia, go clean yourself up, someone will be here to get you in twenty minutes.” 

Sofia went into the private teacher’s bathroom and was thankful that it was only a handprint that marred her cheek rather than a bruise, but the fact that it hadn’t gone away told her it might turn into one later. In that moment, she could only hope that an omega’s naturally quick healing would kick in and she wouldn’t have the mark by the time she was supposed to go out with Bruce. 

She was also pretty sure that it would still be there tomorrow. 

She washed the blood from her hand quickly, and sat back down in her chair in the principal’s office, body nervous and jittery. Mrs. Gomez wouldn’t give her her phone back, but still had the nerve to scrunch her nose in distaste at the scent of anxiety that was coming off of Sofia. 

The twenty minutes that she needed to wait for passed so slowly that it felt closer to twenty hours of being ignored by the principal. 

Bruce walked in, looking calmer than she would have thought someone could. Sofia felt bad instantly, and really hoped she hadn’t stressed the sweet alpha out. 

He walked over to Sofia and put a hand on her shoulder, making her look up and at the comforting smile he offered. 

“Hello, Mrs. Gomez right?” He said and offered the principal his hand. 

“Hi Dr. Banner, there’s not much to say about the situation as of now, but I’ll be speaking to Sofia first thing tomorrow. All I have to say is that her behavior is abhorrent and goes against all of our values.” 

Sofia moved to sit up, but as seemed to be the day’s theme, Bruce’s hand pushed her back down into her seat. 

Bruce just nodded, and let Sofia stand once she’d relaxed under the hold. 

“Alright, everyone is free to go-”

“My phone.” Sofia ground out, grabbing her bag with one hand and fisting the other in her skirt. 

Mrs. Gomez just smiled and shook her head. 

“I’ll be keeping that until your detention tomorrow is over.”

“I don’t think so, now give me back my phone.” Sofia swung her backpack over her shoulder, then held out her hand expectantly. 

Bruce, who was officially her favorite person ever, nodded in agreement with her and said, “She will be needing her phone back.”

Sofia didn’t know what was said during Mrs. Gomez’s phone call with the pack, or what weight Tony probably threw around, but Mrs. Gomez’s face paled and she handed the phone over to Bruce. 

Bruce and her stepped out of the office without so much as a goodbye to her asshole principal, and something in Sofia lightened once she didn't have to look at her anymore. 

They stepped into the elevator just as the bell for the end of the day rang, and Sofia was glad that it was empty since it usually wasn’t. 

Bruce didn’t say anything when they left the school, and though Sofia meant to break the silence, she didn’t mean to say, “Fuck, I got detention, I’m gonna have to watch that ‘So you got detention’ video.”

“The what?” He asked a shocked little smile on his face. 

“The detention video!” Sofia said, laughing even though she genuinely hated the video, “It’s Steve in full uniform, giving a genuine, heartfelt, speech about detention, it's absolutely terrible, and most catholic schools don’t even do it but of course Ms. Bitch does.”

“Ms. Bitch?” 

Sofia nodded while they turned the corner towards the parking lot in Metrotech. 

“Ms. Bitch, not very creative, but we all hate her guts.”

“You shouldn’t call her a bitch.” Bruce said, and Sofia felt a little bad, but years dealing with Mrs. Gomez outweighed it. 

“She’s probably gonna bring in a nun to talk about homosexuality to us and another chastity talk.” 

“How many chastity talks do you get?” He asked, looking slightly bewildered at the prospect. 

They’d gotten to the underground parking lot, and Bruce was giving someone a ticket he’d pulled from his pocket. 

“Uhh,” Sofia said, trying to recall, “Well, I got one from the science teacher freshman year, then before Christmas break every year from the religion teachers, before easter break too, and before summer break. I think there was one in September, that  _ might _ be it from the school.” Bruce looked shocked at her words, and opened the car door before she could. 

“Yeah, and then the orphanage gives you these little postcard thingies every time you leave for the weekend.”

“Really?” Bruce asked, and Sofia was pretty sure there was a small amount of disgust in his scent. 

“Yeah, once a year we tape them all in one of the Den Alpha’s rooms.”

“They don’t stop you guys?” 

Sofia shook her head and said, “They try, but they literally never know who we’re gonna get, it’s beautiful.” It occurred to Sofia that she probably shouldn’t have told him that, but in all honesty she loved the tradition. 

Bruce shook his head fondly and pulled out of the parking lot. 

“Do you want to change and drop off your bag? I was going to take you to The Met, but they close at five, but uhh,” Bruce started wiping at an invisible piece of dust on the dashboard of the car, “there’s always the transit museum, nothing like The Met, but Bucky said you really liked the museum on Sunday. The transit museum there wouldn’t be time to get you back to the orphanage first though, it closes at four.” 

Sofia hated to admit it, but she was pretty sure that a nervous Bruce was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. 

“I love the transit museum,” she said, looking out the car door because she didn’t want to risk creepily staring at the alpha, “And uh, I have clothes in my bag I can change in the bathroom there.” 

“That’s perfect,” Bruce said, turning towards the museum, “I was thinking this restaurant for dinner, it's called TheLeWala, it’s uh, Indian, but I wasn’t sure if you’d-”

“I’ll love it.”

Bruce didn’t comment, but looked away from her with a blush. His scent was calm and soothing, and Sofia didn’t mind being surrounded by it. 

The transit museum was less than a five minute drive away, and Bruce parked around the corner from it. She opened the door on her side rather than wait for him to do it, and he looked between the door and the car with the blush before fumbling around in his pocket for quarters. 

If someone didn’t know what the museum looked like, it would have been mistaken for a regular train station. Even so, Sofia knew her way around the city and was pretty sure Bruce did too from the way they seamlessly turned and went down the steps. 

Like she guessed, the bathroom was just inside and past the booth where Bruce bought their tickets, and she changed into the jeans and non uniform sweater she kept in her bag in case of emergency. 

When she got out of the bathroom, Bruce was sitting down on a bench, hunched over a pamphlet about the museum that he must have grabbed. 

Sofia didn’t know if fit was the way his brows were furrowed slightly, or the way the six foot, and probably seven or eight inches tall man seemed like he was trying to look as small as possible, but when he looked up at her, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his slightly chapped vaseline tasting lips. 

She didn’t like the way the plain vaseline lip balm, and it was part of the reason she preferred the cherry one, but for some reason she didn’t mind the taste on Bruce, and part of her more rational side reminded her that she probably tasted like the little Starbucks coffees they sold in the cafeteria at school. 

With Bruce sitting, and her standing, she was taller than him, but Bruce either was used to it, or didn’t mind, if the ease in which he wrapped his arms around her waist was any indication. 

“Uhh,” Bruce said when Sofia broke the near heartbreakingly sweet kiss out of a need for air and the reminder that they were in public, “that happened.”

“It should happen again.” 

Bruce didn’t respond, instead put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her back in for another achingly sweet kiss.

This time, Bruce was the one to pull away, and Sofia felt regret flare up instantly since she was positive it was because she’d given the seam of his lips a tentative lick. 

Sofia whispered a soft, “Fuck,” and licked her lips, tasting the stickiness of his lip balm.

“We shouldn’t have done that.” Bruce said, sounding just a little out of breath, and cheeks flushed with something Sofia was sure wasn’t embarrassment this time. 

“Maybe,” Sofia said just quick enough that it wasn’t a drawl, “third time’s the charm, and we’ll stop after that.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

But, Bruce didn’t refuse her, and his brows were furrowed again the same way they were when she left the bathroom. Bruce also didn’t say he wanted to kiss her again, and his confusion was strong enough that it leached into his scent a bit, so Sofia didn’t kiss him again. 

He didn’t say anything either, just unfurrowed his brows and shook his head, eyes still on her lips. 

A minute that lasted eternity passed before he stood up, and offered to take her backpack. He didn’t make a joke about how it was heavy, or comment on its weight otherwise, and if it wasn’t for the blush still on his face, and the way he tentatively reached to take her hand, Sofia would have thought he regretted them kissing. 

For the rest of the date, they didn’t comment on it, but she’d catch Bruce staring at her lips, then when the hour passed, and the transit museum closed, they went into the car where Bruce and her held hands for the entire ride to the restaurant.

At the restaurant, Sofia didn’t have the slightest clue what to order nor did she recognize anything on the menu. Contrarily, Bruce seemed like he was right at home in the more cafe style appearance of the restaurant, and ordered for the both of them. 

She wound up loving the food he ordered for her. 

~~~~

Sofia was going to kill Steve. 

She was going to hold him down, stab him, and then feed the remains to the fucking president. 

And, as soon as she got her phone back from the teacher who was hopefully paying as close attention to the clock as she was, she was going to tell him. 

However, she barely had half a clue as to the time. It was mostly because she couldn’t tell time on an analogue clock, but she was partially sure that the hour hand was inching closer towards the four, which had to have been good news. 

_ Actually, _ she thought, it would be better if she put his remains where his grave was. She was pretty sure it was in Arlington, but she hadn’t exactly studied where his grave was during her AP United States History course. It would be more poetic than anything, and pretty funny as well.

Detention had started without much adieu, and it hadn’t taken long for Sofia to find out she was the only one to show up, which had also been a miracle since she’d nearly left at the end of the day. 

The normally not sadistic religion teacher had started the hour off with the common ‘So You Got Detention’ video, then followed it up with the ‘So You Want to Have Premarital Sex’ video, the latter of which Sofia had entirely forgotten about. Then the sadist plaid the two on repeat. 

Jumping out of the fifth floor window was becoming increasingly tantalizing. 

As if God was finally taking pity on her, a timer on the teacher’s desk rang, and not willing to wait for instruction, Sofia grabbed her backpack and nearly ran to get her phone. 

The actions earned her a dirty look from the beta female, but Sofia was too eager to leave to pay it any mind. 

Her first order of business was to answer the few messages from the pack that had piled up. There wasn’t much there, but she was still happy to hear from them. The happiness didn’t negate her annoyance though, and she was hungry already, neither of which helped her filter her words. 

_ Sofia: Steven Grant Rogers-Stark _

_ Sofia: If I ever have to watch those videos again I will set your grave on fire _

_ Natasha: What videos? _

_ Sam: Please do cause Bucky leaves flowers the week of the anniversary every year so he can act like a sad widow and it’s getting real old _

Sofia looked away from her phone aftering reading the message, not wanting to have to swipe her metrocard more than once. 

She felt it vibrate in her hand again, but didn’t check until she’d finished going down the stairs and was waiting in front of the track her train would come in on. 

_ Sofia: Okay I won’t but only if Bucky wears a veil next time _

_ Sofia: Instead I’ll scatter your remains on the memorial in Grand Army Plaza _

For once, the train got there quickly, and Sofia had to shove her way in amidst the taller people that were also trying to enter. 

_ Steve: Sofia, please do not kill me. I filmed those videos so long ago, and I did not even know that schools still showed them. _

_ Bucky: Wait no I wanna see her try _

The train started moving before she could respond again, but she still rolled her eyes in response. 

She wedged herself between an annoyed beta and uninterested alpha and wrapped a hand around the disgustingly warm metal pole, then unlocked her phone again to see that Bucky and Sam had gotten into what she was pretty sure was a routine argument. 

What she did notice though, was that Bucky had agreed to wear the veil, but only if she would agree to go with him and fake cry. Not quite sure what she was agreeing to, Sofia agreed anyways. She wasn’t sure if Bucky would actually have her go, but she also wanted to see what Sam would say. 

His reaction didn’t disappoint, but it was the videos Clint had sent in quick succession that made her laugh. The sound earned her an interested look from the alpha on her left, but the beta on her right didn’t react. 

Opening the videos wasn’t necessary for Sofia since she knew the contents of most of them, so she waited for their responses again. 

Minutes passed before they came, and she guessed it was because they were watching the videos. 

In the meantime, Steve had sent a series of messages asking them to not watch the videos. 

Bucky was the first to respond, and he did so with a series of thumbs down emojis followed by a message that made Sofia blush. 

_ Bucky: Don’t worry Sofie, Stevie was just being a bitch he loves premarital sex _

_ Tony: Don’t let the press find out they might revoke Capsicle’s Catholic card _

_ Clint: 4 the str8 sex or the gay sex _

Usually, Sofia didn’t mind being on the train, in fact she liked it. She was able to ignore everyone and be ignored back, and it felt blissful most of the time. 

Now though, she felt giddy and exposed, almost as if someone seeing her phone would cause everything to come crashing down around her. 

Natasha berated Clint’s grammar, but eventually they both ganged up on Steve’s deplorable acting skills, and the blond alpha’s only reply was a series of sad faced emojis. 

Sofia was fairly certain that she’d either laugh her way through her next detention, or never look any of them in the eye again. 

As the train jerked to a sudden stop, she started questioning how bad guys ever took them seriously. 

Part of her was certain that they didn’t, but at the thought, her hindbrain snarled at her that any place out of her nest wasn’t safe. 

Sofia tried to dismiss the thought before the mental image took hold, but trying not to think about it only made her think about it more, and before she knew it, she was staring at an empty water bottle that was rolling under the seats, imagining the pack in her nest. 

She pictured the nest taking up her whole room, probably ten times as large as the one she had in the closet, and filled with her future pack members. Her rational side insisted that even empty her room would probably be too small, but she couldn’t bring herself to care at the moment. 

Between the image in her mind and the flurry of text messages aimed at Steve that were showing up on her phone, Sofia laughed so hard she nearly walked off of the platform and into the train tracks across from where she unboarded. 

Reflex kicked in, and she avoided falling on her way towards the stairs, but nearly dropped her phone once the incessant buzzing kicked up ten or so notches. 

Once she got above ground, she wasn’t able to read all of the messages since her phone kept reloading downwards and showing the latest messages, so she wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but Steve was sending a series of frowning emojis, and Bucky was sending a series of thumbs up ones. 

_ Clint: Steves just a himbo Sof _

_ Steve: I have no clue what a himbo is but I am the greatest tactical mind in history _

_ Tony: Nah ur a himbo _

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first time posting while the sun is out feels super fucking weird, also next chapter is Sam and maybe Thor. If you guys wanna see something specific lemme know and I'll do my best to put it in, also I'm running outta things to read so if you have any recommendations I'd love them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/27/20-3/28/20
> 
> Quick warning, Sofia uses the F slur in this chapter, but not against anyone.

With Paulie standing conspicuously in front of her and someone else standing to her left, Sofia took a picture of the calculus homework she had finished during one of her free periods. 

Usually, she’d leave around one-thirty on Fridays since she had two free periods in her last slots on Friday. With her detention and the revoking of those privileges for the next week, she was stuck in the building and had nothing better to do. 

So, she’d done the calculus, government, and english work and was planning to finish the last bit next period. She hadn’t done this much homework while in school since she was an underclassman and couldn’t leave the building. 

It was absolute hell. Being productive was for the middle of the night, and the middle of the night only. 

“You done yet?” Paulie asked as the teacher gave them a dirty look. Sofia gave an affirmative sound and slipped the phone into his palm. He did something so it slipped into the sleeve of his shirt seamlessly. 

The bell rang seconds later, and Sofia grabbed her things and went down to the library. 

“Nuh uh uh.” She looked up from where she’d started to read the questions she needed to answer. The librarian was standing over her, arms crossed and foot tapping. 

“What?” Sofia asked, putting as much sincerity into her voice into her voice as she could, though it still sounded blaringly fake. 

“We all may be sinners but I won’t allow a, a uh-”

“A faggot?”

The librarian paled, a stricken look on her face, and started to gasp out in surprise. 

“Well I could never, Sofia out of my library this instant!” The woman shouted, and Sofia rolled her eyes, grabbed her things, and left the room. The algebra teacher had a study period going on upstairs, and he wouldn’t mind it if she sat down in there. 

She really, really, hated not leaving early. 

The algebra teacher was sleeping with his head down against his desk, so Sofia didn’t say anything, just sat down next to Josephine. 

Josephine was too busy doing something, so she only looked up to offer Sofia a tired smile. 

Sofia didn’t feel like saying anything either so she just pulled out the rest of her homework and got started on finishing it. 

“Did you do-”

Sofia slid the papers she hadn’t yet put away onto Josephine’s desk and got another tired and grateful smile in return. 

“Psych?” Sofia gave Sofia an eager nod, happy she wouldn’t have to do the work herself. 

It was three pages of work, and Sofia’s hands were already cramping a bit, but she really didn’t feel like doing anything tonight. 

And if anything, Josephine wrote a lot so she’d probably wind up with half as much as the other girl. 

She got to work, and managed to paraphrase more just about everything before she had to leave. 

“Hey, can I take this?” Sofia nodded and gestured at her friend to ask if she could keep the psychology homework to copy. Josephine agreed, and she put the things in her bag as quickly as she could without being careless. 

Sam was going to come get her at six, so she only had two hours to get back to the orphanage and shower. 

As she opened her locker to get out her jacket and switch around some books, she slid her hand over the very top shelf whose contents she couldn’t see. A small object bumped against her hand, and she pulled it out, intrigued. 

It was a green rectangle, small, and more importantly her puff bar. 

With a “Holy fucking shit,” Sofia got on her toes to check the shelf again, and found a few more of the bars. Not wanting to risk someone smelling them in the locker room, she put them into the front zipper of her backpack and vowed to try them as soon as she got home. 

Detention started without any adieu, and unlike the day before, she was joined by a few freshmen and a sophomore. From the looks of it, the group had been caught trying to leave the building and were stopped. 

More likely than not, the fact that there weren’t any juniors should have been suspicious since the class of twenty-one was more often than not in trouble, but she didn’t blame them for not showing. 

Junior year was more stressful than not, and Lord knows she didn’t attend detention at all that year. 

There was also a lot of weed that year, but that was no one’s business but her asthma’s. 

She handed her phone over without a fuss, which earned her a grateful look from the religion teacher and an eye roll from one of the freshmans. 

In years past, she tried to be nice to the freshmen, especially after that one time Raya filled a cart with honey and sold it for a hundred dollars to one, but this class of freshmen made her want to find out how Raya had done it. 

It wasn’t even like she could get a cart to empty though, she realized. Mostly since, not only had she shared a pharmacist with Raya, but that her only other pharmacist was Paulie and he probably wouldn’t sell to her anymore. Even worse, Rose’s was an alpha and refused to sell to omegas. 

She also wasn’t supposed to do drugs. The image of Steve lecturing her and giving her the ‘Captain America is Disappointed in You’ look didn’t exactly help that. 

When the hour of state approved torture was over, she got her phone, shoved the freshman with the attitude, and walked out of the room as fast as she could without making it look like she was running away. 

The train left as she went down the stairs nearest to it, and she stared at the departing hunk of metal with a look that wasn’t quite angry or quite resigned either. The other omega standing a few feet away had the same look on her face. 

Nearly ten minutes passed before another train came, and by the time it did there were probably fifty or so people standing on the platform. 

She wound up having to shove herself between two people and stand away from the poles sandwiched between a sweat smelling beta and annoyed omega. 

As the train left the station and she nearly face planted into the dirty floor, she realized it was gonna be a long six stops. 

~~~~

The first thing she did when she got back to the orphanage was grab a washcloth from the communal closet and take it to her room. Blowing the smoke from her vape into a damp washcloth wasn’t the most effective way of preventing the room from smelling, but as she tested the bars that had been in her locker, she found herself not caring. 

“Okay Sofia, now you need to wash your pussy and get dressed.” She muttered once the calm had set in, then folded the bars in between some clothes so they wouldn’t be too easy to find. 

She showered quickly, and managed to find something to wear that wasn’t just jeans and a hoodie since she didn’t want to look like she only had one outfit. 

With around ten minutes to spare, Sofia stared at her reflection, fiddling with the jean jacket she was going to put on. She was wearing a pair of jeans, some Vans, and a short sleeved shirt that made her want to put the jacket on and never take it off. The sight of her arms never failed to make her uncomfortable, but she was pretty sure she’d be able to ignore it after some time. 

Sam texted her that she was downstairs just as she nearly pulled out one of her less wrinkled long sleeved shirts. Rather than change clothes last minute, she just slipped her phone into the pocket of her jeans and pulled her jacket on. 

As she opened her door, a strange scent caught her attention, and she turned her head towards where the small stuffed bear Bruce had given her a few days back was sitting on her desk. She picked it up and brought it to her nose, immediately registering Bruce’s and the pack’s scent within the stuffed animal. 

How she hadn’t noticed him slip the scent holder into the bear in the days before, she had no clue, but the scent put a smile on her face and she made sure to put the bear in a particularly empty looking spot in her nest after giving it a brief cleaning with a baby wipe.

Everything looked as close to perfect as she felt like getting it, so she pocketed her phone and made her way towards the elevator. Sam was standing in the lobby, and saying something to the receptionist. 

While Sofia hoped that he wouldn’t end up liking her in any way, she was also pretty sure if anyone would befriend the bitchy beta it was him. 

“Hey,” Sam said, a small and expectant smile on his face. She returned the smile and gave her own greeting.

“How’s everything going?”

“I’m alright, and you?” Sofia asked, watching as he signed their names on the sheet. 

“Doing okay, you have to watch the video again?” He asked with a sarcastic smile on his face. Sofia rolled her eyes without meaning to and gave him a look as if to say  _ did you really have to ask _ . 

“So I was thinking Dave and Buster’s, how’s that sound?” 

Mentally, Sofia pictured how crowded Times Square would be on a Friday night, but it’d been a while since she’d been and there was always the chance he meant the one in Staten Island or New Jersey. 

“Sounds great, I love it there.”

“Cool, I was uh, thinking of taking the train.” Sofia blinked at Sam slowly before she answered him, a little bewildered, “It’s six in the evening.”

“Oh, is it too late? We can do something else, I just haven't really taken the train in a while and-”

“No, no,” Sofia said just as quickly, “I just meant that it’s gonna be really packed’s all. Wait, how long has it been since you’ve seen a skyscraper?”

Sam gave her a dubious look as if to question the sincerity of her question, his slight anxiety diminished. He gestured for them to go towards the couches that were in the lobby, and sat down so that she was above him a bit. The change of height difference made her a bit uneasy, but when she moved to sit next to him, he just shook his head and kept her standing in front of him. 

“Before we go,” Sam said a little quickly and a little quietly, “I have something we wanted to give you, Steve sorta drew it out, but we all worked on it.” He started to pull a long rectangular box from his pocket, and while part of Sofia wondered how it fit in there, the rest of her was nervous and slightly apprehensive at what he’d say next. 

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to,” he rushed out fast enough that the statement sounded like one word, then so quietly he almost didn’t hear him, “but I-well  _ we’d _ really like it if you did.” 

Sofia took the box from his outstretched hands. It didn’t weigh much, but she still felt it in her hands more than she’d feel anything so small. Like she’d quietly thought to herself before, it looked sorta like a necklace box, but thicker than most boxes she’d seen. The box was a deep red velvet, and when she opened it the inside was lined with a black velvet just as deep as the red on the outside. 

  
What caught her eyes instantly though was the courting collar that rested inside of the box. It wasn’t thick, but it wasn’t anywhere near the thinnest one she’d seen, probably between an inch or two but she wasn’t sure. There was some sort of design embroidered on the black leather that looked like lace, but she couldn’t be sure since it was in a purplish blue so dark it nearly faded into the black, and it faded into a red equally deep to say  _ Stark _ in a smooth cursive. There was a small, gold loop directly under the neatly embroidered  _ ‘r’ _ that looked so delicate she was positive it was for more fashion than to clip anything to. She gasped softly at the sight of the bright gold buckle and the lock that rested to the right of the collar. 

Overall, it was beautiful, and even without touching it some part of her knew that the inside of it would be soft and hug her skin gently. 

“It’s beautiful,” she said, glancing up at Sam through her lashes. Her voice was soft, and she didn’t want to dispel the quiet hush that had fallen over them. Unthinkingly, she turned the box back around so it faced Sam who’d started to stutter out, “You really don’t have to wear it if you don’t want, and you don’t need to use the lock and it has a button so it doesn’t  _ lock _ .” 

“Put it on me,” then quietly because Sam was nervous and it was making her nervous, and- “please.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” He said even quieter, but neither of them moved, their eyes just trained on the collar. 

“Turn around for me, hold the box with one hand and pick your hair up with the other.” Sofia was glad for the precise orders, and she turned around quickly. No one was looking at them since it was a common occurrence for everyone in the orphanage, and she knew more than a few people who’d been collared by the couch. 

Instinct and hindbrain screamed at her to get to her knees so she was below him again, but the sound of the old couch groaning told her he was standing up which put her slightly more at ease.

Sam put a hand on her shoulder to warn her, but the sight of him coming around to grasp the collar with both hands still made her eyes widen in wonder. He returned to where he’d been standing earlier, and pulled the collar so that it was snug around her throat. The quiet sound the buckle made had her breath speeding up, but it was the sight of him reaching around to take the lock that had her pressing down a chirp of happiness. 

A weird squeak like sound escaped her instead, and Sam put a hand on her rib and leant down to murmur, “I don’t have to lock it Sofia.”

Sofia shook her head instantly, and Sam didn’t say anything, just rubbed at her side a bit and took the lock from the box. It closed with a too loud and too obnoxious  _ click _ .

“Perfect,” Sam breathed out, and ran a hand over where it locked, not so accidentally brushing against the scruff of her neck. Instinctively, she pushed back into it a bit, but Sam dropped his hand and she let her hair fall from where she’d gathered it. 

He came back around, and she stared at him while he stared at the courting collar she’d only wear for a few weeks until they were mated, or possibly until she’d married Tony. He closed the box for her, and in that moment she wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but she didn’t want to risk getting in trouble for it if someone saw like she knew she would. 

With that, she risked the chance of there being genuine legal issues, which also meant that she wouldn’t be able to go to Dave and Buster’s with him, or out with Thor tomorrow. So, she told herself that she’d kiss him later if her breath didn’t smell too weird from dinner. 

“We should get going.” 

They didn’t move until Sam stepped back, and Sofia blinked herself out of her haze. She gulped, and felt arousal start to pool in her gut at the feeling of the collar on her throat. 

“Wait,” she said when her eyes fell back on the box in her hands, “I wanna put the box away.”

Sam laughed lightly, his scent smelling happy and pleased, and nodded. She nearly ran with a quick “Be right back.” 

She was quick to put the box on her desk, and ran her fingers over the stitching on the collar the entire time, noticing at some point on the elevator ride down when a myriad of baked goods assaulted her nose that they’d infused their scents into the soft lining. 

“Okay Sofia,” she said aloud to herself, “you cannot go out there smelling like you wanna get your guts rearranged.” 

“Uhh, dead puppi- wait no I’ll cry,” she murmured, looking for anything to think of that would get the scent of arousal to stop from wafting off of her. Eventually, she settled on what her calculus teacher, John’s, dick probably looked like. 

By the time the elevator opened to show Sam’s softly smiling form, the arousal had faded and was replaced by the same scent of happy omega that had been coming off of her earlier. 

“Now don’t go getting lost on me in the middle of a crowd alright?” He asked as they walked languidly towards the train station. Sofia wanted to roll her eyes, but her hindbrain had done that strange thing where it was sharing control with her forebrain like it had done the night Tony served her, and so she just blushed uncharastically and nodded. 

Sam gave her a soft look like he knew what was happening, and tightened his grip on her hand. 

“I have a confession to make.”

Sofia didn’t say anything, just gave him an inquisitive look at his his proud and sheepish statement. 

“I’ve never brought a metrocard.” 

“You’re shitting me,” she chuckled in surprise. 

“I shit you not,” he declared proudly then elaborated, “shipped off in ‘02 still had coins ‘til ‘03.” At the incredulous look he got again as he tugged her back from crossing until the light had turned, he continued in an attempt to defend himself, “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken the train, and when I was in DC I took the metro, just never brought a metrocard here.” 

“I’m gonna love watching you fight with the touchscreen.”

Sam huffed a bit at that, but didn’t say anything as they walked towards the train station.

He gave her an amused look when she gave him a glare each time he stopped at a crosswalk. It looked like the one she gave pups when they were doing something particularly stupid, and she blushed when she realized it. 

“Let’s go or I’ll make your upstate ass transfer at Metrotech instead ‘a Hoyt.”

Sam snorted in amusement, but let her drag him back around the corner to the entrance. Thankfully, it was one with a booth, but not so thankfully, a train had just come in and there were people flooding out and ambling towards the exits. 

“C’mon Sammy, time to buy your first metrocard.”

Sam gave her a dirty look, but somehow managed to politely shove his way through the rush of people and towards the machine, where he proceeded to spend nearly five minutes pressing the  _ Start _ button. 

She watched him with a grin, and definitely didn’t tell him about the metrocard she had in her breast pocket. 

She did however, laugh when it took him nearly six tries to swipe the card. 

“What train are we taking?” He asked as they stood on the platform under the stairs, not particularly close to either open edge. 

“We need the A so whichever one.” Sam gave an appreciative hum and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Sofia sunk into the embrace automatically and put her hands over where his clasped each other atop her stomach. 

The F pulled in, and Sofia reluctantly pulled away from Sam so they could wedge their way into the overcrowded train, making sure to stay near the doors. 

It wasn’t a bad ride to Times Square, considering both that it was rush hour and they were going into Manhattan rather than leaving it, and Sofia spent the majority of it with Sam pressed up behind her and her hindbrain making barely aborted attempts to purr or even worse,  _ chirp _ . 

During the ride, she found herself glad for Sam’s height as he was able to see the stops where she wasn’t, and she let herself be led out by a gentle yet firm hand holding hers. 

When they got outside, they were automatically thrust into an even worse crowd, but had an uncharastically short wait for a table at the restaurant. 

Once they’d both finished their meals and talked for a bit, Sam called the waiter and ordered dessert. When the thick chocolate cake arrived, he cut the triangle in half, then cut the half closest to him into smaller pieces, much the same way Tony had the week before. 

Her cheeks flushed when he turned it back towards her and gave her a look that made her want to mutter about the little shit energy he was giving off. She ate the cake a little slowly, unwilling to meet his eye the entire time, and squirmed a bit in her seat. 

Then, at least an hour later while she was glaring at the Piano Tiles game in front of her, she felt a sharp pain and something uncomfortable between her thighs. 

She stammered out an excuse to Sam about how she needed to use the bathroom then said “Fuck” a bit louder than she meant to when she saw her underwear. The pressure from her shoulders eased a bit when a male said proudly and a little drunkenly “I know that ‘fuck’,” and held out the same brand of pads she used from under the stall door. 

Sofia took the pad, profusely thanking the male, and said to herself silently  _ I love drunk omegas in the bathroom. _

~~~~

When Sofia woke up, her feet were deliciously sore, her face was pressed into the stuffed animal Bruce gave her, and her eyes fell on the box that had held her collar over night immediately. 

For once, she woke up before her alarms went off, and had a little over an hour and a half until Thor wanted to get her and do touristy things in the city. 

With a halfhearted groan, she rolled out of the nest and grabbed her things so she could shower and dress with hopefully enough time to spare. 

She managed, but just barely as she pulled on a similar outfit to the one she’d worn yesterday, only with a red shirt instead of a black, and a square neck instead of a v-shaped one, a pair of black jeans, and a thin white bomber jacket that was more for comfort than necessity since she was pretty sure she wouldn’t get too cold walking around. 

The fact that her red and white checkered Vans matched was a completely unintentional plus of course. 

Fiddling with her hair was the last thing she did, since she didn’t want to put it up, but didn’t want to leave it to possibly cover the collar either. When she noticed she had around twenty minutes left until eleven, she settled for clipping it in a half up half down style, then pulled a few strands out when she saw how unusually large her forehead looked. 

Sofia forced herself to settle with the look and light makeup she’d put on and fixed her room so she would be able to grab something light to eat and leave. The last thing she did was stuff a few tampons in her inner breast pocket and unplug her phone. 

She got herself a muffin and an iced coffee, and was finished and in the lobby by the time Thor messaged her that he was there. 

Thor was carefully calm but his eyes showed a cross between anxious and excited. He gave her a broad smile when he saw her, and she returned it automatically. 

Once she was standing in front of him, he gently grasped her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, right over one of her smaller scent glands. The gesture was old fashioned and unexpected but not at all unwelcome, and she let out a slightly shaky breath that from this close couldn’t have been mistaken for anything other than arousal. 

“Hello,” he said, tone slightly teasing yet still joyful. 

“Hey.” 

Thor smiled at her indulgently, and tugged on her hand gently so he could sign the sheet on the receptionist’s desk. 

“We have many things to explore.” Sofia smiled at his light tone and nodded in agreement as they walked towards the train station. Sam had left her with the metrocard from yesterday so Thor didn’t have to fumble with it like he had, and so minutes later, she swiped herself in as Thor watched intently before repeating the action seamlessly. 

He pocketed the card, and they went down the second flight of stairs in quick enough time to get on a train towards Manhattan. 

Times Square was packed for the sole fact that it was  _ Times Square _ , but in relation to the way it’d been the night before, it was fairly empty. She knew it’d fill up as the day went on, but for now she enjoyed milling about the notorious area with Thor at her side. 

Going into each and every store possible seemed to be the most important thing on Thor’s itinerary. 

“Is it true that the disney store has an Avengers section?”   
  


“Oh you have no clue man.”

When they stopped in the Disney store, she made sure to drag the smiling man towards the large Avengers display they had against the wall to the right. 

“I am not this puny, yes?” He asked, grabbing a stuffed toy made in his image and holding it up next to his face. 

“Well,” Sofia said, laughing at the alpha in front of her, “I mean, you guys might be the same pant size.”

Thor looked like he was contemplating something then shook his head decisively, “Nay, I believe he may be a bit larger on the gut than I.” 

He put the stuffed toy back carefully, then looked at the other toys. For the most part, they were incredibly inaccurate, and rather than looking like the actual Avengers, they looked like males and females with a certain hair or eye color. The only real identifying features were the costumes, which made sense as in the past few years the Avengers hadn’t exactly been in the public eye. 

“These are all wildly inaccurate.” Thor said as he scratched his beard a little in thought. He picked up an Iron Man one with the helmet down, “Look, this one does not even have Tony’s mark of birth,” he paused slightly as if in thought again, “well, it may be a scar.”

“Thor it's a stuffed animal.”

“Sofia,” the alpha said, falsely aghast, “they are lying to the  _ children _ of America.”

“And now we’re going to the other side of the store.”

“Truly, I am wounded,” he said, sarcasm heavy in his voice even as he followed her around the store. 

“I think I shall buy you this Sofia,” he said while holding up a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal that was nearly as tall as she aws. Instantly, Sofia saw herself wrapped around it and it in her nest but she knew better than to try and take the animal on the train, or even to walk around Times Square with it. 

“He’s gorgeous Thor, but we won’t be able to carry it around or anything.” Thor pouted a bit, and now they were  _ both _ giving the stuffed animal a sad look. He brightened up first, and then turned to the worker who was walking past them to ask if they had a delivery service. The beta female gave the stuffed Mickey a look that said animals his size caused that problem more often than not, did a few things on her small tablet, and then told them that she’d opened a tab for them. 

Thor gave her a look that said he was about to spend a  _ lot _ more money than she’d ever seen at once before, and this time he was the one that led her around the store. 

When they were done in the store, Sofia tried her best not to look at the bill yet still caught the presence of at least one comma. The sight made her eyes widen, and the other omega standing on the line to them left gave her an understanding look. 

Even with the entire comma situation, they only left the store with one bag since Thor thought she needed something tangible. He hadn’t let her hold the bag, but she knew that inside was a soft Stitch plushie. 

During their time at the store, Thor hadn’t hesitated to tug her closer to him whenever she’d started to wander away, and though he’d barely given her a look of reprimand, her hindbrain was being bitchy enough that she listened to him. As they walked through the increasingly more crowded streets, he kept their hands clasped just as tightly as he had before. 

“You wanna take a picture with Elmo?” She asked as they approached where the viciously expensive characters were. Normally, she wouldn’t look twice at them, but she was prepared to be  _ that _ tourist couple for Thor. 

The alpha looked endearingly excited at her question, and led them towards where Elmo was standing. He gave the man a twenty which, not good for other tourists, and they both smiled widely for Thor’s phone camera. 

“What do you think of an early dinner?” He asked as they walked through another street lined with stores. They were in the thick of the madness by now, near the Omega’s ‘R’ Us that had been a Toys ‘R’ Us before the company split in half a few years back. 

Unthinkingly, Sofia took a step or two towards the large windows that had a row of leashed mannequins on display. The figure to the far left caught her eye the most, the chain was a bright gold that was nearly the same color as the lock and buckle on her collar, and the leather handle looked sturdy yet soft. 

A sharp tug on her neck made her pause, and she blinked to see that Thor had hooked his finger in the ring of her collar. 

“I would never permit for you to wear such a leash,” he said, voice stern and just a touch snooty, “this collar is made with the finest gold from Asgard and the best leather in the nine realms. If you need a leash it shall be of the same make, but I suppose if you keep attempting to wander that would suffice.”

Sofia’s breath was shaky, and she knew that arousal was seeping into her scent as she trained her eyes on the floor. 

Even as a pup she’d been mostly spared from being put on a leash, and she most definitely didn’t want to be leashed in the middle of Times Square, well her forebrain didn’t. Her hindbrain was convinced it was the ticket to getting her insides rearranged by his knot. 

“So?” Thor asked, tugging again at the ring. “Will I be putting you on a leash for the walk to dinner?” The harder tug forced her to her toes, and she had to brace her hands on his shoulders. Accidentally, she met his piercing eyes, but as much as she wanted to drop the contact, she couldn’t. 

She shook her head as much as his grip allowed, and with his free hand he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. He let her down slowly, but she didn't move away from him. Rather than step away though, she got back on her toes, and pulled on his shoulders as hard as she dared so he’d lean down. 

He leant down, and she had to get a bit higher on her toes so she could press her lips to his, but once the contact was made, Thor shifted his stance enough so she didn’t have to strain. 

“Dinner?” He asked when they broke apart, completely put together for all that she was sure she looked a wreck. 

Sofia narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but someone not so subtly bumped into her back so she just nodded at the blond alpha. 

He smiled and hooked a finger in her belt loop as they started to go towards the restaurant. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I lowered the rating on this because in all honesty there won't be any smut for a while. Usually with fics like this I sorta say fuck it since it's only a month before the oc turns 18, but I have plans for her birthday weekend. If you have any ideas for the future, please let me know, I'm open to just about anything.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/29/2020
> 
> I really said Fuck Cannon and I'm not sorry

“Chase, will you give me the baggie or not?” She asked the grinning alpha, already annoyed and just wanting to get it over with. 

For the past five minutes, he’d been looking at her like she was some sort of alien or time bomb, and at one point he’d asked if she had a fever. 

Sofia was really, not amused. 

He snickered at her and said, “In the closet on the shelf above the washcloths, and remember to clean that damn room when you get back.”

Sofia nodded at him, but they both knew she definitely wasn’t gonna clean her room until at least the next day, so she went off to get down the bin with the plastic baggies she’d need. She wound up having to jump a bit, but eventually she got one out and put the bin back. 

It was early for her, only around nine in the morning, but she’d barely been able to sleep after the idea had come to mind late the night before. 

Once she got back to her room, she carefully took the blanket she’d thought of the night before, rubbed it against her major scent glands then her more minor ones just in case, and then sprayed it so that the scent would stay. When she was done, she folded it up and put it into the plastic baggie that was meant for preserving scents. 

The blanket she’d selected was one from near the floor of her nest, so while the scent wasn’t particularly strong it was deeply buried into the fabric of the small, purple fleece blanket. She’d had it for a few years, and had brought it from the baby’s section at Target after her arm had brushed up against it. 

She stepped out into the hallway after she slipped it into a small backpack. Instantly, her eyes were drawn to Jordan, a Puerto Rican girl who was a little taller than Sofia. 

Jordan was a month or two younger than her, and right now smelled like a combination of heat and that one dessert that looked like rice and beans and tasted like heaven. 

Originally, Sofia had just wanted to waste some time watching TV before she had to get dressed, now she couldn’t tear her eyes from the girl she heat partnered a time or two, close enough to her own heat that she could wind up being pushed into it, period or no. 

“I wanna eat you out.” Jordan said, turning to Sofia, eyes a blazing purple. 

Her hindbrain made a halfhearted protest about how she had a date in a few hours, but it was her forebrain that made her blurt out “I’m on my period.” 

Jordan wasn’t deterred and just stood from the couch to approach Sofia, who was standing there in the tanktop and running shorts she’d worn to sleep. Compared to Jordan who was wearing a sports bra and boxers though, she didn’t look underdressed. 

“Your titties look delicious.”

“You smell fucking delicious.”

“My cousin told me it’s arroz con dulce.”

By then, they were standing close enough that Sofia could see her reflection in Jordan’s eyes, and was pretty sure her own eyes were getting flecked with purple. If it hadn’t been for Chase grabbing Jordan by the scruff and dragging her towards her room, she most likely would have kissed her. Sofia whined a bit, heart hurting and hindbrain yowling in indignity at the way her friend screamed in protest. 

Dayja chose then to look up from where she was sitting on the couch then and gave Sofia an understanding look. 

“Come take a nap you don’t have anywhere to be ‘til noon.” Dayja patted at a spot on the sofa and she sat. 

“I am almost three weeks away how dare she fuck me up.” Sofia sighed into Dayja’s shoulder, wriggling so she could plaster herself to the other girl’s side. 

“Ya’ fucked yourself up, your period wasn’t due ‘til next week.”

Sofia was just glad that her heat would most likely stay on track since the two were only occasionally linked with her uneven schedule. 

“You just got collared boo, and all that alpha stink?” Dayja trailed off shaking her head. 

And, Dayja was right. Sofia’s hindbrain had been raging and she wouldn't be surprised at this point if it pushed her into a sudden heat which wouldn’t be fun for anyone involved. 

“Gotta get yourself a trenti order of skin on skin and rub a couple out later.”

Sofia  _ knew _ that, too, but it was still embarrassing and something she didn’t want to talk about. She was just glad it was Dayja telling her this though, since the last time Chase had tried to talk to her about it with her it ended in frustrated laughter. 

“Shit, should I do what that girl from twenty-eighteen did before she went on that interview with that actor?”

“Sofia,” Dayja said, like she was being particularly daft, “do you really think you can face them knowing you smell like you fingered yourself into oblivion?” 

“Wait that’s what she did?”

“Please stop being stupid.” 

Sofia glowered at her friend, just a bit annoyed, but  _ SVU _ was on so she just turned to watch it. Chase got back from Jordan’s room just as the next episode started. 

The alpha didn’t crouch in front of them, but leaned over enough so that he could pull her head from Dayja’s shoulder with a hand on her chin. He gave her eyes a strangely intense look, then pulled her chin up so he could lean in a bit and sniff at her neck. 

Sofia grunted and tried to pull away, but he seemed to have found whatever he was looking for so he let her go and stepped back a bit. 

“Good, don’t need you getting set off.” 

She huffed and burrowed back into her friend’s side since it was better than saying anything, but at least now she knew she wouldn’t need to use the color changing contacts she had. 

Chase didn’t go far, and just sat on the other end of the couch and typed something into his phone. 

Another episode passed before she went to shower. She got dressed similarly to the day before, only making sure to not wear black or too much red. She wound up wearing a long sleeved light blue sweater and darker blue jeans. Since she didn't want to look like a smurf, she wound up having to take a pair of brown ankle boots from Dayja. 

She was dressed with ten or so minutes left, but her cramps had started to kick in to the point where she seriously contemplated staying. Rather than bail out on them, she stared intently at the bottle of ibuprofen. She took three, contemplated it, then took two more in hopes she wouldn’t have to deal with the pain later. 

It was probably a few pills too many, but she’d taken more than that and knew that the worst thing she’d get was a stomach ache. 

Anxious about the gift she had for them, she barely stopped herself from running downstairs and opted to pace the length of her room. Noon was a minute away next she checked, and she almost forgot to grab her backpack 0n her way to the elevator. 

The pack was just entering the large glass doors to the lobby when the elevator doors opened. 

“Okay Sofia,” she whispered to herself, “think of nice shit no smelling like a ball of anxiety, you are a bad bitch no smelling like you drank little bitch juice.”

Sofia managed to get her scent under control for the most part, and it was back to the muted state it usually was when she wasn’t feeling anything too strong. 

“Hey,” Tony said once they were standing in front of each other. 

Sofia returned the greeting with a soft, “Hey,” of her own, then when he didn’t say anything else she basically rushed out, “I have something for you,” just as he said, “I have someone I want you to meet.”

They both paused, and  _ shit _ now things were awkward. 

Another second passed, and Tony blurted out “You first,” so she nodded, slipped her backpack off of her shoulder, and passed him the tightly sealed baggie. 

With the way he took it so carefully, she would have thought it was pure gold. The rest of the alphas were looking between Sofia and the bagged blanket like either thing was about to blow up in their faces. 

Sofia wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not until Tony started stuttering out his thanks. 

“I don’t wanna take this to the park, lemme get the pu-oh shit you still gotta meet the pups.”

Sofia mentally paused because that was a- _ word _ to use, and said with as little fear as she could, “Pups?” 

He shrugged half heartedly and said, “Well, they’re old-kinda old, one’s a freshman, the other’s a sophomore, and the older one’s emancipated, lives upstate, the younger one is uh in-”

Tony was cut off by a shy and tentative, “Hi,” from someone that had come out from behind Thor. 

The kid was an alpha, and like Tony had said, old but still with a prominent pup scent that he wouldn’t lose for at least another five years. 

Sofia met the kid’s eyes, and felt the world slow as something snapped into place like it only really did in Hallmark movies. 

Tony’s pup that she had just found out about had just imprinted on her. 

Sofia needed a drink, a really nice and strong drink, and maybe a blunt. 

“Oh shit,” someone said, and she looked at the other pup that had been hiding behind Steve until now, then the second pup imprinted on her. 

The pack bonds formed just as quickly as the imprint had taken to snap into place, and the only word Sofia could use to describe them was  _ weird _ . She’d never had a pack bond with anyone before, and it was something indescribable. 

Sure, she had the loose, pseudo pack bonds most people formed through childhood, but a combination of not seeing most of her friends that often and the stress that came along with everyday life meant that they weren't prominent and more of a familiarity with their scents than anything. 

She had no clue what would happen next, especially since they were basically the same age, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that if anything happened to her pups, she’d kill everyone in the room and then herself. 

Or, she’d just kill herself to get out of the situation, whichever came first. 

“So this is getting interesting.” Clint said, looking between Sofia and the pups whose names she didn’t even know. 

“Worse than  _ General Hospital _ ,” Sam was agreeing, but it was Natasha that said, “Let’s get out of here.” 

“Great idea, super great now, uhh” Tony was saying as they walked out. Bucky took the baggie from Tony and easily put it on the front seat of a comically large car. 

The pups had gravitated so they were standing on either side of Sofia, but looked like they either didn’t want to say anything or didn’t know what to say. 

“Hi I’m Peter, and that’s Harley but I only like him sometimes.”

Sofia blinked at the pup. He was a little on the short side, probably less than a foot taller than her and had pale skin and curls that flopped over and into his eyes a bit. 

“Oh,” she said a little dumbly, “I’m Sofia, also,” she looked at the pup on her other side who was staring at her like she was about to turn to dust in front of him, “why don’t you like him most times?” 

“He’s just mad I’m an adult,” Harley said, and she took a second to actually look at him. He was around Tony’s height if not a little taller, had hair a bit straighter than Peter’s even though it flopped onto his forehead some too, and though he still had that pup scent, didn’t have the same boyish appearance that Peter did. 

“You’re twelve.”

“I’m not that much younger than you.”

Sofia, though she didn’t  _ mean _ to, probably gave him a look similar to the one she gave the pups back at the orphanage. Because, while he was a teenager, alphas didn’t really lose their pup scent until their late teens or early twenties whereas omegas and betas lost it somewhere around their early or mid teens. 

During the walk to the park, she found herself uncharastically glad for the way that one of the elder alphas always carefully observed the street before they crossed. 

“Ya know kid,” she heard someone say as they got closer to the place where they’d sat on their first date. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see that it was Tony whispering to Peter, “you can hold her hand. I don’t think she bites, well I don’t think she’ll bite  _ you _ .”

Peter didn’t say anything to either her or Tony, and she didn’t know what to say to Harley so she didn't say anything. She wound up accidentally listening to their conversation. 

“Well, I don’t think she  _ can _ bite you _. _ ” Tony said, and then Peter gave him an “Okay Mr. Stark,” and reached not so covertly for her hand just as the benches came into view. 

She didn’t meet him halfway, knowing how important it was for pups to make the first move with certain things, but when he gave her a tentative look and brushed his hand against hers, she finished what he’d started and slid her hand into his larger one. 

Tony shot her a wink she barely saw over Peter’s head and Peter gave her a grateful look. The new pack bonds were thrumming with life and Sofia had absolutely no clue how to deal with them or what to do with them. However, as she sensed a near unconscious tugging on one, she looked to her right where Harley was giving her curious and scared glances from the corner of his eye. 

She said tentatively since she had absolutely no clue what to do, “I have two hands,” and he took her other hand eagerly seconds before he had to let go so they could sit. Both him and Peter took her hands back just as they were seated though, so she didn’t think it mattered. 

~~~~

“I got invited to a college party.” Harley said out of the blue. They’d been sitting at the overpopulated bench for an hour or two, and Sofia wasn’t really sure what they were talking about. 

“Those are always fun, you should go.”

“What do you know about college parties?” Sam asked her, reminding her that she technically wasn’t supposed to have gone to the few college parties that she’d gone to. 

“I may have attended.”

“May have?”

“ _ Anyways _ , just don’t drink the jungle juice, you’re better off making your own at ho-”

“C’mon we won’t tell but seriously how the fuck did you get in? I thought they were strict with that.” Sam said, laughing. 

“Well, one of my friends is in Oswego, and the other’s at Albany, but I went to a few from St. John’s too.” She’d had to pull a few strings with her friends’ family upstate in order to manage those, but as far as the state was concerned she spent the time at either a funeral or a wedding depending on the party. 

“Sofia please tell me you don’t mean the SUNY?” Clint asked, shocked. Sofia nodded, and made the wise decision to not tell them about the time she saw a man snort cocaine off of his friend’s abs. 

“How do you make jungle juice?” Peter asked, even though Harley was deeply engrossed in the chaos that he’d unwittingly caused. 

“Don’t answer that we don’t need him making it.” Tony said, looking for all intents and purposes like he wanted to taste Peter’s attempt at the drink. 

“This is a shit show,” Bucky whistled out, and Sofia would have nodded in agreement if it wasn’t for the way Peter was looking at her in awe and Harley was still looking at her like she was about to vaporize. 

“Look at the ugly ass robot,” Harley said in lieu of acknowledging Bucky, looking at the pigeon that was walking towards them. 

“He reports to the bourgeoisie.” 

“What?” Steve asked, looking between Sofia and Harley. 

Then, as if it had been practiced, the three teens said, “In nineteen-eighty-seven, Regan-”

Tony cut them off with his sputtering, saying “Absolutely not you children of the corn.”

“How is it that you are certain the birds are robots?” Thor asked, looking between them, Tony, and the bird. 

“Shoot it,” Harley blurted out, and Peter looked a bit queasy but didn’t disagree. 

Tony pointedly looked between Harley and Sofia as if to tell him to shut up, but the omega shrugged and said, “Fuck it, why not.”

“And I thought I was heartless.” Natasha said sarcastically, and looking at them with a raised brow. 

“I sold my soul to the devil at the age of six and three eighths.” Sofia offered. Harley nodded and added, “I waited ‘til seven and a half but yeah.”

“Yeah you did it early Sofia, I waited until my twenties.”

“So much therapy is needed at this table I cannot begin to describe it.”

“That’s not important, I just wanna know what kinda deal you got doing it in your twenties? You were fresh out of childhood innocence and purity.” Harley laughed, Sam groaned into his hands, and Peter smiled while Natasha answered Sofia with a cryptic, “Budapest is crazy sweetie, never underestimate it.”

“I have so many questions,” Peter muttered, and Sofia nodded solemnly in agreement. 

“Can you feed me now?” Harley asked, and mentally Sofia took an inventory of whatever food she may have had in her bag. 

“Absolutely undignified,” Tony admonished just as Steve said, “Of course Harley.” 

For a beat, the entire table was silent, then Sam blurted out at the same time as Bucky, “I’m driving- no I’m driving.” 

“They do this every time,” Peter said, then slowly, as if his lack of speed would stop him from getting noticed, lend towards her and put his head on her shoulder. 

Sofia wasn’t sure if she wanted to run away and hide, or if she wanted to take the pups and fatten them up until they exploded. She realized she wouldn’t be doing either as they started to stand up and walk back towards where the car was parked outside the orphanage. 

If it wasn’t for the fact that Peter looked like he was trying to sneakily inhale lungfuls of her scent and Harley was still looking at her like she could vaporize at any second, she would have probably thrown herself in front of the large truck that ran a red light. 

The walk back to the car was quicker than the walk to the car, and when they got there, Sam looked at how Peter and Harley were still clinging to her and offered for her to sit in the front. 

The offer seemed to jerk both of the pups back to life and Harley gave her arm a possessive tug she’d only really had toddlers do to her and proclaim, “No.”

Before Sofia could insist that she didn’t mind sitting in the back, Tony started to admonish him with a “Harley you can’t just-” 

“No,” the protest was sharper this time, and from Peter. 

Tony looked shocked, and Sofia wanted to sink into a puddle of embarrassment, “ _ Peter _ ” he said sharply and a little betrayed. 

“I don’t mind, Tony,” she said, because her hindbrain was already freaking the  _ fuck _ out and she didn’t need her future alpha getting into it with her pups. 

The trio was the last to enter the four row car, though their positions remained the same, with Peter to her left and Harley on her right. 

“Why do you guys have a soccer mom’s wet dream for a car?”

“Sofia, take that back this is nothing like a soccer mom’s car.” Tony fake gasped. 

“This is the shit a Karen would enter into Monster Jam.” The others behind her were not so subtly laughing their asses off, and Harley’s addition of “It’s thicc,” didn’t help, especially when Peter decided to contribute, “With three c’s.”

“Please don’t attack the car,” Bruce sarcastically added from the driver’s seat. 

“Bruce, this is Duggar level huge.” 

“I’ve been saying it’s a monstrosity for years,” Clint added, putting his chin on the space between hers and Peter’s headrest. 

“I handcrafted this car and made it from my blood, sweat, and tears.” Tony was trying to defend it, but Sofia couldn’t stop laughing if only because of the sheer size of it. 

“It probably has school bus plates.” 

Tony muttered something she could only half understand about “Fucking millennials.”

“Listen  _ boomer _ ,” Harley said before dissolving into laughter. 

“What school do you guys go to?” She asked when the laughter died down, if only because she was close to laughing at the size of the car for the upteenth time. 

“Midtown,” Peter answered, having melded into her side again. 

“Online,” Harley said. 

Sofia didn't know anything about going to school online, but she guessed it must have been fun to be able to stay at home all day.

“I knew this guy that went there, it’s a specialized one right?” At Peter’s nod, she continued, “I think his brother’s a freshman there, but he graduated a year or two back.” 

“Huh, was his name Thompson?” Harley asked, and Sofia wasn’t sure why the name was so funny, but she nodded anyways since she was pretty sure. 

Peter gasped in horror, and Sofia said, “Sorry?”

“Oh my God you know Flash’s brother?” 

“He was the one that did the house parties right?” Peter gave a sad little nod, and she shrugged halfheartedly. 

“If it helps, I only knew him ‘cause he was dating my friend.”

“Okay that helps a little bit.” 

“Why don’t we like him?” She asked, hoping she’d say the right thing this time. 

“He’s a dick,” Peter sulked, and she patted his thigh placatingly. 

“Is school okay other than that?” Sofia sounded like a mom and she hated it, but she was actually concerned for the most part.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” 

“What school do you go to?” Harley asked. 

“Oh, a Catholic school downtown.”

“That must be cool,” Harley muttered, and Peter nodded along even though Sofia shook her head. 

“Nah, it’s really small and all carriers.”

“You don’t like it?” Clint asked, and Sofia shrugged halfheartedly. She didn’t hate her school, but it wasn’t exactly her first choice. 

“The entire senior class is in one calc class.” 

Peter looked slightly horrified, and said, “No,” as if his word would change the fact. 

“Yup, fifty kids, one classroom built for like twenty.” 

“That’s slightly terrifying,” Clint said. 

“Not to be a dick-”

“Then don’t say it Tony.”

“I’m gonna say it Sammy, anyways, not to be a dick, but why’d you go there?” Tony asked, half turned around in his seat. 

“Well, I mean it isn’t a bad school,” Sofia said in a last ditch attempt to defend the institution, “but I only really went cause I’m on full.”

“Full  _ scholarship _ ?” Bruce asked, looking back at her in the rearview mirror. 

“Yeah, I wanted to go to this school in Manhattan I got into though, the one where the whole second floor stinks cause ‘a the pool, can’t remember the name,” Sofia said slightly sheepishly, if only because she never got used to talking about her scholarship. 

Peter blinked like he was thinking about something, and then nearly hit his head on the roof of the car with the way he shot up and basically shouted, “You got into  Stuyvesant!”

Sofia laughed at his excitement and nodded.

“The one where a few years ago there was that big thing on Halloween?”

Peter nodded again, looking at her like she’d hung the moon. 

“You got into Stuyvesant and you didn’t go?” Sam asked, looking at her like she was crazy. 

“Yeah cause I got the full scholarship.” Sofia tried to keep the  _ duh _ inside since she thought it was obvious that she’d have gone to the all carrier’s school. 

“Sofia that is such a waste of a brain.”

“Tony, there’s a bunch of people that did it,” Sofia tried to defend herself.

“But I have omegas in my class.”

“Well,” she said as she looked for the right way to phrase her words without sounding like an asshole, “in the orphanage we have to apply to public and carrier only which I’m pretty sure they’re all catholic. Anyways, if you get tuition covered you have to go since both are technically free.”

“That’s, disturbing,” Bruce said, looking quickly between Sofia and the road. 

“It’s fine, I mean it’s always been like that,” Sofia said, confused. 

Then, what Sofia liked to refer to as awkward alpha silence ensued. It was the kind of silence that happened when an alpha figured out that omegas could go into heat while on their periods if they ovulated too early. 

It was not a good silence. 

The awkwardness faded as Thor chose a random point of conversation to focus on, and  over the course of the short ride to Manhattan, Peter relaxed against her instead of tightly pressing against her, and Harley conspicuously inched closer. 

When they got to what she guessed was an italian restaurant, Tony and Natasha went in to put down their name for a table while the others waited outside. 

Peter and Harley had gone in with Natasha and Tony for which Sofia was slightly grateful, though felt bad for being so the second the thought passed through her mind. 

“You want one?” Steve asked Sofia as she accidentally eyed the cigarette that was between his lips. 

Now, Sofia couldn’t smoke a cigarette most days, and she’d been staring more at the way his lips wrapped around it than the cigarette itself, but she was stressed and wanted it more than she’d like to admit. 

“Uh-not a full one, just some of one if you don’t mind, I’ll cough my ass off.” 

“Asthma right?” Clint asked, and Sofia nodded as Steve held out his own cigarette to her, “Here have some of this one, no use wasting ‘em.” 

Bucky intercepted the cigarette, and turned towards Steve nearly shouting “What the fuck Steven, she has asthma!” 

Sofia  _ didn’t _ want to laugh, she really, really didn’t, but the outrage on his face was comical. Then, she noticed a giggling Harley taking a video of his reaction. Steve’s face was flushed a bright red but he still looked confused. 

“Steve you’re not supposed to do that anymore.” 

“Thought they’re good for asthma?” Steve asked confused, and Sofia had to look away from his confused face and Bucky’s exasperated one in order to stave off her laughter. 

“Then why would it make her cough, Steven?” 

“They used to make me cough.”

“It’s not even the right brand.”

Natasha walked out of the restaurant and gestured for them to come in. She slid between Bucky and Sofia seamlessly, and wrapped an arm around the omega. 

“He tried to give you a cigarette?” She asked, and Sofia blushed but nodded. She felt bad for the argument she’d caused but their reactions were more comical than serious. 

“It’s just Bucky, he’s a bit of a mother hen.” 

Sofia nodded again, and saw how there was an empty seat at the large table in between Peter and Harley. 

“You don’t have to,” Natasha offered, but Sofia shook her head and said, “I don’t mind.” 

Natasha gave her a smile that was more like a smirk, and moved to sit by Tony who was on Peter’s left. The restaurant was nice and spacey, but like most things was tailored to alphas so her feet still dangled a bit in her seat when she sat all the way back. 

Sam and Clint placed some orders for appetizers and probably drinks once they were all seated, and conversation started up again and flowed easily between them. 

Minutes filled with laughter passed before a few waiters came and started placing carafes lengthwise on the table. Two of them were filled with a yellowish-white liquid, and the others a deep red. All of them had various fruits floating around though, so Sofia knew it was sangria. Next, one of the waiters started to place cups in front of everyone at the table except Peter and Harley. 

Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sofia kept her right hand under the table as she thanked the waiters. At Tony’s prompting, Peter slid the alpha Sofia’s cup, “Red or white Sof?” 

“Uhh, red,” Sofia asked more than said. Tony nodded and poured her the first cup. He put it as close to her as he could get with Peter in between them, and Sofia did her best to maintain eye contact as she thanked him, but she was pretty sure she failed. 

A quick glance at the menu and the name of the restaurant showed that it was Spaniard rather than Italian. 

“We usually get a couple of the big paellas to share except for Peter ‘cause he doesn’t like seafood.” Clint offered. 

“Alright, that’s perfect.” Sofia put the menu down and Clint chuckled at her slight awkwardness. 

The appetizers came just as she made the decision to rest her hand on Harley’s stiff knee. Plates with a little bit of everything were passed to her and the pups soon enough, and though it was both informal and just the appetizers, everyone waited for Tony to take the first bite. 

He did, but didn’t make a show of it, and they followed suit and started eating. The conversation started again as well, but by the looks of it, Peter and Harley’s silence was unusual. 

Across from her, Sam gave a minute shake of his head when she was about to bring up their silence. 

Sofia made sure to watch how much she drank, but she usually got drunk faster if she was stressed so by the time she walked out of the restaurant a light buzz had settled over her. 

Peter and Harley were the only ones that moved to enter the car, while Sofia was confused, the feeling evaporated when Natasha gently grabbed her chin so she could kiss her. 

She let out a soft squeak of shock, but eagerly reciprocated the kiss. Natasha pulled away too soon, but before Sofia could get her breath, another hand on her chin pulled her in a different direction and onto another set of lips. 

Kissing Tony was like kissing Natasha in the way that it was like everything and nothing she could have ever imagined. Like Thor had been the day before, he was languid as if to say he had all the time in the world, but he was thorough to the point that Sofia knew she’d miss the feeling as soon as he pulled away. 

It didn’t exactly makeup for the whirlwind that had been her day, but as Tony pulled away with one last nip at her lips, and pointedly looked towards Steve’s blushing form, she decided it was worth it. 

  
  
  
  



	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/30/2020-4/2/2020
> 
> Hey, so quick content warning for this chapter. There's a little bit of suicidal ideation(I hope that's the right term if it's not let me know), depression, and some food issues going on. If you find anything else I should mention up here as a warning, please let me know about that too. Thanks so much for the love I've been getting with this story, it really means a lot to me.

_ “Hey, Sofia?” _ Peter asked just as she was about to hang up the phone. It was around six in the evening, a little early to be doing homework but the boy’s history grades had been slipping dangerously and he had a test the next day. 

“Yeah hun?” She asked as she sent the last email with her old notes. She’d dug up whatever Global History notes she could find in her school’s google drive, and even found a few outside sources for him. 

_ “So I don’t mean to be rude, and Tony said not to say anything but I really wanna know an-” _

“Spit it out Peter,” she said, hopefully not unkingly. 

_ “SowhatdidyousaytoFlash’causehe’sbeingnicetome-” _

“Don’t worry about him Pete, just lemme know if he bugs you. Don’t study past eight and get to bed by ten.” She wouldn’t tell him about the threat she had given to the elder Thomson brother, or tell him to cheat on the test. 

Peter sighed, but gave a resigned,  _ “Okay omma.” _

“Goodnight Peter,” Sofia said, mentally reaching out to send reassurance through the pack bond. 

It wasn’t until she hung up the phone that she registered the fact that he hadn’t called her omma sarcastically. She’d been called omma casually, sexually, and sarcastically, but never  _ sincerely _ . Hell, half the time that the pups in the nursery slipped and called them something, it was mama, but almost never omma. 

Tears welled in her eyes at the realization. He was such a sweet boy, and from the little Tony had told her about his past, he’d been through a lot. 

And he just had to imprint on the first functioning alcoholic, basically drug addicted omega he saw. Sofia hated that she found herself a little grateful that Harley hadn’t spoken to her since they dropped her off the day before. 

“He called me omma and I’m the most fucked up fuck up I know,” her voice was borderline numb and she stared at a spot on the wall as the tears started to fall from her eyes. 

She knew how to take care of pups, had been doing it ever since she  _ was _ a pup. She didn’t know how to be a mother though, her easiest and most trusted cure for heartbreak was a drink and a blunt, and when she didn’t have any, ice cream until her body reminded her that she was lactose intolerant, or sleeping until someone forced her out of wherever she was. 

For her entire life she’d only really had her friends to soothe her, a teacher or two, and a few times the parents of her friends. She’d never had something as reliable as she was supposed to be to two pups that were basically her age though. 

Until a few weeks ago, she was half sure that she’d end up mating one of the shitty alphas whose profiles kept getting passed over. The other half of her had been hoping the system would forget about her like it usually seemed to, but now she was looking at a life upstate, mated to one of, if not the most powerful War Pack in the country, married to the pack’s alpha, and hopefully not pregnant all before Memorial Day. 

A strangled whimper left her lips, and she didn’t even put effort into stifling the sound. In front of her, her vision was blurry even with her glasses, but it didn’t stop the tears from falling. 

“Fuck,” she said to herself, and she heard on a knock on her door before it opened but the sound was distant and didn’t register. 

“Sofia what the fuck is this? This room was supposed to be cleaned yesterday.” 

“Get out,” she whispered. 

Chase let out an agitated noise, and stepped to the side of the desk so he was half leaning over her. 

“I don’t care what this is, get it together and clean this damn room omega,” he growled out the last bit. Honestly, Sofia hadn’t even cared about cleaning the room yesterday. She was buzzed, happy, and her hindbrain was still reeling with everything that had happened. 

She had showered, buried herself under the nest, and blatantly ignored Chase. It had earned her angry growls and the scent of displeased alpha was still permeating the air when she rushed out for school that morning. 

Now, the Den Alpha was annoyed, and probably just needed to take it out on someone. That someone happened to be Sofia, and Chase had coincidentally chosen the worst time to do it. It wasn’t unusual behavior. When alphas didn’t get what they wanted, they took it, and Chase wasn’t exactly about to clean her room himself. Realistically, Sofia only had herself to blame since it was her fault the room wasn’t clean, but she didn’t want to say that. 

Instead, she said, “I said get out Chase,” the tears were flowing steadily and when she went to wipe her tears away, her hands bumped into her glasses, making her frustration multiply. 

“And I wanted this room cleaned  _ yesterday, _ but where are we now?”

“Well I was busy telling you to get the  _ fuck _ out,” Sofia was standing, and they were both growling now, her room was flooded with the stench of distress, anger, and sadness mingled together. 

She flung her glasses somewhere off to the side, making her vision even blurrier but some, dark part of her said that it was good because if all she saw was a blur, then she could ignore it. 

Chase didn’t say anything, but he didn’t move either. She couldn’t tell what his expression did, but his scent got worse, anger thickened. Her instincts for once, told her to get the intruding alpha out rather than lay belly up to appease him. The change should have been refreshing, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than his imposing presence. 

Everything was crashing down around her, and Sofia was so tired that she just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again. 

“ _ Out _ Chase, get the fuck out!” She was shouting, but a good omega doesn’t shout, and she had absolutely no clue what to do. She was supposed to be a mother to pups she didn’t know, she knew for a fact that Tony wouldn’t okay her staying over at Lisa’s or Rose’s, and she couldn’t even be alone in her own room. There was no way to escape anything, and she was suffocating because of it. 

To top it all off, out of all classes, she was failing Spanish, and had a test in the morning. It wasn’t even that she was bad at the subject, but the teacher had caught on to the fact that more often than not she used the work Lisa had saved her. Apparently, the bitter old woman also knew that half of the students she taught were doing it, and so had completely changed the rest of the curriculum. 

Chase growled, and something in Sofia’s heart cracked. Ever since the whole escapade with Raya, and the government, she’d been so fucking  _ tired _ when she wasn’t feeling strangely detached. Being alone in her nest hadn’t helped much, and while the constant dates helped her get out and talk to people, when she was alone everything seemed to crash down. 

“I want this fucking room spottless, and I want it now omega,” Chase half growled, half shouted, and Sofia was glad she couldn’t make out his expression then. 

He did something to make the scent of his anger strengthen again, turned and left. 

~~~~

Sofia wasn’t depressed, even though she was pretty sure that her file said she was. She was just in a funk, was all. She wasn’t going into omega drop either. Nope, she wasn’t dropping, she was just in a  _ funk. _

At least, she told herself that as she walked into school an hour and a half late, dreading the Spanish test she’d be getting back. She’d taken it the day before yesterday, and had wound up feeling more drained than she’d felt in a while. 

She didn’t remember what happened at all during the day, she probably didn’t even take notes or say more than five words to anyone. She only checked her phone a few times too, and wasn’t sure how she got into the train station even as she got off at her stop. 

It was strange, everything passed by in a haze and she only half snapped out of it when she had to stop herself from getting into her nest without showering. Rather than shower though, she pulled off her uniform and got into her bed with just her underwear, knee highs, the shorts she wore under her skirt, and collar on. Littered around the room was a myriad of stuffed animals that had arrived the day before. Sofia had already put most of them in her nest, but left a few on her bed and had decided she’d switch some of her favorites around depending on where she was sleeping. 

Her phone started buzzing incessantly next to her head, and she clutched her comforter to her chest with one hand while she blindly grabbed at it with the other. 

A phone call was coming through, but she didn’t bother to check the caller before she answered. 

Clint’s excited voice came over the phone, and Sofia sat up quickly so she could properly pull the comforter over her chest before grabbing the phone. It was a facetime call, and she guessed it was via a holograph on their end from the view of the pack sitting in a large and spacious living room. 

_ “Okay, okay, hey Sofia, we placed bets and now that everyone’s drunk we’re gonna ask,” _ Bucky said, metal hand holding a beer bottle. 

Despite herself, Sofia felt his jovial attitude break through the numbness a bit even though Steve was the only one that looked anywhere near drunk. 

“Alright, who am I making money today?” Sofia asked. 

_ “What the actual fuck did you do to get that dick off Pete’s back?”  _

Sofia smiled, having forgotten about the ordeal entirely until then. 

“I gotta hear the options first.”

_ “You threatened to kill ‘im.”  _ Steve half slurred. 

_ “You fought ‘im.” _

_ “Or ya killed the dog.” _

She rolled her eyes fondly, and for the first time in days, reached out to feel the invisible bonds between her and the pups. As far as she could tell, Harley was bored, but interested in something, and Peter was happy over one thing or another. 

The lack of negative emotions settled something inside of her that had been coiled tight with anxiety. 

“Ya’ll’da thought, but nah no one’s making money today.” 

_ “C’mon ya gotta tell us.” _

“Is that really all you got?” Sofia asked and thought that this was good, she could do sarcasm, was used to being interrogated by one person or another. It was easy. 

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder why they wanted to know so badly. 

_ “Well, Thor said your friend said something to his brother, but him and Sam are the only ones that think it, and Nat’s sure she knows but won’t say.”  _

“His brother works with this guy and has a big stash in the basement. I got a picture with it in the background one day, alls I did was show it to him and set some shit straight.” 

_ “A stash of  _ what _ Sofia?” _ Sam asked a bit seriously, and even Tony looked a bit stern at that. Sofia mentally debated on whether or not to tell them about the multiple kilos of cocaine, and hookers coming in and out of the basement, but eventually settled on lying a bit - fibbing really. 

“Porno magazines, I think they’re those fucked up ones for the guys with the race fetish though, or gay since he was always real protective of them. Looked like he sold them too, I think.” 

Not one of them looked like they believed her, but she really hoped they would just let it go and stop asking. 

Sofia’s eyes felt heavy whenever she blinked, and her head felt a bit fuzzy now that she paid it attention. The alphas on the other end talked amongst themselves for the most part, but interacted with her a bit too. Her eyes kept falling on the open closet door, and though she couldn’t see her nest properly, she knew exactly where the too large Mickey Mouse was. 

She sort of wanted it, but only in a passing thought. She hadn’t really wanted anything that strongly in the past few days. 

_ “Sofia,” _ Bruce said slowly, near cautiously as if he was scared she’d run off. She didn’t like how his caution made her feel like a wild animal liable to bite and run. 

She tried to smile at him still, even though she was pretty sure that it looked more like a grimace. It took him speaking to her directly for her to notice that they were all strangely silent. 

_ “Omega, are you dropping?” _ Tony asked her in a low, kind voice that soothed something inside her. 

Sofia wouldn’t call what was happening an omega drop, she wouldn’t even call it a depression episode. She was just in a  _ funk _ is all. 

“No, I’m okay,” she said instead of saying what she was thinking. The alphas on the other end didn’t look deterred though, and she winced internally. 

_ “When was the last time you ate?” _

“I had lunch earlier,” she hadn’t, was pretty sure she hadn’t eaten a full meal since dinner on Sunday, and she might have had a coffee Wednesday morning, but they didn’t need to know that, especially since it was Thursday. 

Thor looked like he was contemplating something, but just as her eyes fell on him, they were torn away and to Bucky who’d made a sound in his chest that was just loud enough for her to hear. It was a combination of disappointment and concern, and it made a whine of apology nearly sound from Sofia. 

Steve murmured her name that way he had on their first date each time she’d gotten nervous. It was kind, and low, and thick with an accent he usually covered. 

Sofia blinked and tears welled in her eyes at the tenderness. 

“I had chips this morning,” she rasped lowly at last, looking at the Stitch on her bed rather than the phone. She nearly hung up the phone afterwards, and only just restrained herself. It was probably a lie since she didn’t really remember if she had, but she hoped it wasn’t. The idea of lying to them made something in her chest tighten uncomfortably, and her hindbrain kick her forebrain harshly. 

_ “And a real meal?” _ Tony asked, a little bit of concern in his voice. 

Sofia didn’t want to answer that, so she just shrugged, wishing that they were there with her. 

Her breathing was a little shaky, and her chest was tight but she was just pretty sure it was her asthma. 

_ “Sofia, you’re dropping.” _ Clint told her decisively, and Sofia shook her head in denial. 

_ “Have you had a full meal since we saw each other?” _ Bruce asked her, and she had to prop her phone against Stitch so she wouldn’t hang up. The camera probably wasn’t even properly aimed at her, but she didn’t really care as she pulled her knees as close to her chest as she could and did her best to keep the quilt at her chest. 

Rather than answer, the whimper she’d tampered down earlier sounded, and one of them made a crooning noise not unlike one given to pups. No one had made a noise like that towards her in what felt like forever, and she couldn’t say she hated it. 

_ “Sofia we’re going to send you some food, and you’re gonna ask one of your friends to come eat with you, okay?” _

But, Sofia wasn’t hungry and wasn’t even sure about the last time she had been, so she shook her head. 

“I’m not hungry,” she admitted, scratching at the itchy scent glands under her collar, then quietly, as if afraid of what they’d say, “I’m sorry.” 

_ “Don’t be sorry, the food will be there in a half an hour.” _

“No Tasha, ‘m not hungry,” she insisted, still scratching at her neck. 

Her eyelids felt heavier than they had before, and something in her chest felt tight as well. She wished that they didn’t call her, that they’d chosen someone better, but they’d chosen her. 

They were stuck with someone who had a ninety eight average that was steadily dropping and wouldn’t be able to make valedictorian if she kept failing Spanish class. The worst part was that she wasn’t even failing, but that if she got anything lower than a ninety this quarter, she’d be stuck as salutatorian. 

Her heart was too fast, and her chest was so tight it was starting to hurt her ribs. Even worse, her scent glands were so itchy they hurt, and her scruff was throbbing with pain. 

It reminded her of the beginning stages of heat, only so much worse. Rather than a surprise heat or a stress heat, it was one of the most definite signs of an omega drop. 

Or an anxiety attack, which was far more preferable. 

Sofia let out a little mournful sound into the quilt, and over the phone, she heard them say something. A sharp growl of  _ “Sofia,” _ made her gasp sharply and refocus her eyes on the screen. 

_ “The food will be there soon, there is enough for at least three people. Ask someone to join you.”  _

“You’re not drunk are you?” Sofia laughed as she said it, tears still falling from her eyes and chest painfully tight. It was a hollow sound, one that would have scared her had she realized it was falling from her lips. 

Sam sighed and shook his head, but Sofia just laughed while she cried. Her laughter died down after a minute or two, but by then she felt dozens of times worse than she had before, and she knew that she’d only fall further until she dropped into the bottom of that pit of despair that only omegas could reach. In no time, she’d be catatonic, forget to eat, and before long she’d get a cold that would kill her if she let it. 

Part of her hoped for that cold to take her in the dead of night where there was no one to bear witness to the pathetic way she’d leave. 

_ “Sofia, go get a friend and invite them to your room for dinner. I want to see a picture of the food before and after you eat.”  _

“Okay,” she whimpered out, her hindbrain clinging to the authority Tony’s voice exuded, “Imma call Dayja and go downstairs.”

One of the men on the other end of the line crooned a soft  _ “Good omega,” _ at her that made her chest loosen and a smile tug at her lips. 

She wasn’t anywhere near okay, and she’d probably have to do Dayja’s hair in return for them eating together, but she didn’t mind it in the slightest. 

_ “You’re doing so good Sofia, so good.”  _ Tony said once her breathing had evened out for the most part. Sofia wished that they were there with her, but she convinced herself to be happy she was only physically alone. 

They let her have a few minutes of silence, and she was glad it didn’t feel heavy or meaningful in any way. 

_ “Alright honey, time to get up the food should be there soon.” _ Sofia nodded, and went to slide off of the bed before she realized she was still nearly naked under the quilt. Rather than say anything, she wordlessly flipped the phone so the camera was pointed at the ceiling and pulled on the abandoned uniform from the floor. 

Dayja agreed to eat with her, but like she’d guessed, Sofia would have to flat iron the other omega’s thick curls. The pack had hung up on her by then, and the drop was partially staved off. 

“You ok hunny?” Dayja asked from where she was sitting on the floor. Sofia and her had just spread out the unreasonable amount of food onto the clear portions of her desk. 

“I’ll be fine.” Sofia said, taking a quick picture of the food. 

“Smell like a drop baby.” Dayja murmured, and ran a hand over her back. Sofia shrugged halfheartedly, and switched her uniform for the sweatpants and tank top that she’d slept in the night before. This time, she put the uniform as well as her knee highs and shorts into her full hamper rather than let them fall to the floor. 

“Ain’t dropping,” Sofia started pulling out the daunting amount of food once she was dressed, then grabbed a container of mozzarella sticks. 

Dayja gave her a look that said she didn’t believe her, and took a plate of grilled chicken, “Maybe you put it on some sorta pause, but you haven’t started coming up yet,” she paused thoughtfully and put a piece of chicken in her mouth, “not all the way in the pit though.” 

Dropping completely and winding up in the pit of despair and catatonia that only really impacted omegas was most definitely not something Sofia rationally wanted to do, especially since the only way to get out of it was through skin contact with pack. No, she definitely didn’t want to be found like that, or remembered like that. 

She couldn’t afford the absences at school. Not to mention, if it didn’t kill her, the cold that she’d get always left her in need of steroids that would make her gain weight. 

“I’ll get myself out.” Sofia halfheartedly took a bite of the mozzarella stick. 

“Always do,” Dayja agreed. 

“Last time you ate?”

“Ehh pro’lly a good minute,” Sofia said, suddenly hungry as she finished the mozzarella sticks.

Dayja just shoved over an open container of mac ‘n cheese with a fork sticking out of it and said, “Ya know, never could figure out how you don’t sit on that shit,” in reference to Sofia’s hair. 

It was a massive inconvenience for her, and brushed her tailbone. Even worse, she wasn’t allowed to cut it until she got married. She didn’t want to dwell on the fear that after the shit she just pulled, Tony wouldn’t want her anymore though, so she just said, “It does this thing where I gotta move it sometimes if I lean forward.” 

“Youch.”

“Yours is gonna do it too ya know.” 

Dayja gave an over exaggerated sigh, and said, “It’s almost dry if you wanna start now.”

Sofia shrugged and forked another bite into her mouth, “Lemme put the flat iron to heat up.” 

She pulled the straightener from it’s spot atop her dresser, and plugged it into the outlet nearest to her desk. It rested on the floor near her backpack, and Sofia was careful not to step on it. 

“Move so I can sit and start combing it,” she told her friend, who was sitting in the only chair in the room. Dayja obliged, and sat on the floor instead, holding out the wide tooth comb she’d pulled from thin air. 

Dayja’s hair was already mostly detangled thankfully, and seemed to have some sort of oil in it too, so Sofia didn’t have to do much before she sat back to finish the mac ‘n cheese. 

By the time she was done with the plate, the flat iron’s light had stopped blinking so she knew it was fully heated as she bent to pick it up. 

Her friend’s hair would take an hour or two to do, and a half an hour in, she was lost in the trance of the repetitive motions enough that the tightness in her chest was near gone. 

“You okay Sofie?” Dayja asked, poking around at another plate of food. 

“Yeah, Imma be fine. Music?” 

“Where’s your speaker, I’ll connect?”

“On the bed, under the pillow.” Dayja got up to get Sofia’s bluetooth speaker, and she grabbed a plate of fried circle things she didn’t know the name of. 

“Fuck is this?” She asked the other girl, holding it up in question. 

“Uh, fried calamari I think.” 

“Huh, smells weird,” she said, but picked up a piece anyways, “tastes okay,” she added after taking the second piece into her mouth. 

“Traje sin ropa interior,” Sofia muttered under her breath when the song started playing over the speaker. 

“You been spending too much time in the heights again,” Dayja commented, even though she’d been the one to choose the song. 

“Nah, ain’t been there since the summer I think.” She said a little sadly. She probably wouldn’t spend a summer in Washington Heights ever again. 

“I remember, with that pool, right?” 

“Yeah the one between the two cars in the street, and when the cops had a tit fit they took a tarp and did a slip and slide.” 

Dayja laughed like she hadn’t been there for herself the day after the entire debacle, when they’d thrown soap and water onto a few tarps and slid down them like maniacs until they bumped into the old mattresses separating them from the road. 

“Now that was fun,” Dayja pointed out, sitting on the floor between Sofia’s legs again, the music blasting from the small speaker in her hands. 

“What was fun was watching you try to explain your tan to Chase,” she snorted and grabbed the flat iron again. 

“That was a burn,” the other girl laughed out, moving her head along to the beat of the song. 

“Imma burn you now if you don’t stop moving your head, and I told you not to put the baby oil that day.”

She didn’t have to look to know Dayja had rolled her eyes, and soon enough the sound of the product sizzling off of Dayja’s hair alongside the music filled the room. When her phone screen lit up a minute or two later, she checked the screen if only to see who it was. 

Apparently Rose’s cat had given birth to a litter of unexpected kittens, and one of them was black with green eyes, which caused Rose’s religious mom to be too ashamed to even sell it to friends. Rose was wondering if she knew anyone that would want it or if she’d be willing to hide it for a few days. 

She didn’t really mind hiding the cat, she’d hidden people in her room for days without issue, but she had no clue who’d want the kitten so she didn’t answer. 

Either way, Rose would probably show up in a few days with money for kitten food, and a crying kitten. 

The next song that came up had something to do with weed, but that was the most that Sofia understood even as she sang it under her breath with Dayja. 

“I need a blunt,” Dayja declared proudly, making Sofia’s eyebrows rise in shock. Dayja barely looked twice at alcohol, let alone drugs, and last time she’d tried anything, she’d thrown up food from weeks before. 

“Last time you tried it, you thought you saw the dead.” 

“Well, that was last time, anyways I have a edible and no one to share it with.” Dayja dismissed her easily, but Sofia could smell the anxiety bubbling. 

“You better not get in trouble next three days man.” Sofia said, knowing it’d take her body far longer than three days to get it out of her own system. 

“I  _ know, _ try it with me though?” Dayja turned around to ask, and it probably wasn’t healthy or smart, but Sofia shrugged and told her to go grab it. 

Dayja scampered off excitedly, while Sofia clicked her nails against the edge of the table worriedly. In a split second decision, she took a picture of whatever food was left and told the pack that they’d finished eating. She didn't want to risk their munchies driving them to finish everything and having to send them  _ that _ picture. 

Dayja came back just as Sofia started to question her choices, and she took half of the proffered rice krispie treat. 

“Don’t eat half, you’ll die.” She told her friend, and Dayja nodded, trusting Sofia’s judgement, split the remaining half in two, and offered part to Sofia. 

She took it, and didn’t taste it even as she swallowed.

“I heard the gummies are better, but this is what I was able to get.” 

“Yeah, the candy ones are the best,” Sofia mused and started to work on her hair again. There wasn’t much left to do, and she hoped she was able to finish it before the edible hit. 

Dayja’s hair didn’t take much longer, and by the time she was done, it still hadn’t kicked in so they settled to watch a movie on her laptop while Sofia half assed whatever homework she had missed that was based on completion. The only thing she didn’t do was the homework from teachers who wouldn’t take late work, which happened to be a majority of her teachers. 

In total, it hadn’t been that much work, and she even did some of the work that was based off of accuracy after it had been sent to her. When she finished that, she left Dayja so she could take a quick shower, and came back as her eyes started reddening and the weight on her shoulders eased a bit. 

Dayja was completely gone by then, giggling and gasping at the movie like a pup, and excited for what would happen next. 

Sofia just curled up under the blanket next to her friend, and distantly wondered how she’d hide a newborn kitten in her nest. 

They wound up finishing the rest of the food before they started the next movie, and Dayja insisted they sneak into the kitchen for more. The plan nearly happened, but Sofia found a plate of pasta with some sort of white sauce amidst the empty food containers, so they ate that instead. 

She had shit coping mechanisms, school in the morning, and no clue what was going on in her life. She was a self described terrible person, an even worse omega, an  _ even worse _ omma, and was nowhere near ready for everything that was going to happen that month, but at least she was high. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last but not least, I keep forgetting to put this, but if you have any gen z references you would like seeing, send them to me and I'll do my best to include them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/3/2020
> 
> So, since the warnings for this chapter allude to a bit more than I'd like them to, they're at the end instead of the beginning this time.

The next morning, not only was Sofia nearly late to school, but she nearly cried because the man behind the counter was taking too long with her food. 

She had a sense of dry mouth that was only made worse by the hazy memories of having to hold Dayja’s freshly done hair back when the slightly older girl vomited some time in the night. Afterwards, they’d brushed her teeth and fallen asleep near instantly in Sofia’s twin sized bed, her stuffed animals kicked to the floor or the foot of the bed. 

The only positive of the morning was that there was no possible way she  _ couldn’t _ eat herself into oblivion. 

It wasn’t until she was sitting in class and staring at the date that her sandwich felt heavy in her stomach and the iced coffee tasted sour. 

“It’s the third,” she said quietly, and Josephine looked sideways at her, eyes just a little too puffy to be allergies, and just a little too red for her to ignore. Sofia wanted to comfort her friend the second she’d realized what had happened, but class had barely started and there was no way either of them could handle getting yelled at. 

So, she waited, and when the bell rang after what felt like years, she held Josephine’s hand and sat next to her at the back of the next class. One of the other omegas from Fort Greene sat in front of Josephine so that the teacher didn’t notice the way the omega hunched into herself. 

When the bell rang after that class, Sofia gently guided Josephine’s hand to another omega’s since they didn’t have the next class together, and she prayed to a God she barely believed in that her friend would be okay. 

At the end of the day, Sofia was half sure she was still supposed to go to detention for the escapade with Raya, but she didn’t care as she walked with Josephine and a male towards the entrance to the train station. 

The male had to swipe for Josephine since her hands weren’t working, and when it failed again, Sofia pushed the three of them towards an open door. Afterall, there was no need for them to be late. 

“He gets out in three weeks,” Josephine said, sounding numb and smelling so sad that Sofia wanted to vomit. 

“You’re gonna be okay,” the male said, and Sofia was pretty sure his name was Jonathan but she wasn’t positive. Rather than say anything, she got as close to Josephine as she could. 

“I miss her Johnny,” Josephine gasped, worrying Sofia while telling her that his name was Jonathan. 

Jonathan just rubbed a hand over her back and made a shushing noise. 

“Not here Josie, c’mon,” Sofia whispered the harsh words as gently as she could but it still got her a dirty look from Jonathan. It reminded her how strongly the cousins could resemble each other when they wanted to. 

She didn’t say anything, but was thankful that Josephine pulled herself together a bit. 

It was a short ride back to the orphanage, for which Sofia was glad, even though it felt like one of the longest train rides she’d ever taken. When they got off of the crowded train, Sofia felt her senses immediately assaulted by the noises of everyday life that had felt muffled until then. 

She just kept a tight grip on her friend’s arm. The cousins had turned so pale by then, she’d have thought she was walking with Casper and the other ghosts were it not for the trembling hand she held in her own. 

The doors to the orphanage felt imposing all of the sudden, but Sofia didn’t relent, just tugged until they got into the elevator and upstairs to the high school floor. There was nowhere to sit aside from some folding chairs, and displayed on the television was a picture of a sixteen year old omega who’d died too soon and the younger sister she’d left behind. 

Josephine made a low, keening noise that her cousin matched the second it was released into the air. Sofia was secretly sure that they were littermates who’d lied about their birthdays so they could stay together, but she wasn’t sure, and even if she was she wouldn’t point it out. 

Jolene had been named after the woman from the song, and from what Sofia remembered acted like it Jolene. She was loud, larger than life, and more confident in herself than anyone Sofia had ever met. She’d take someone’s man and then laugh in the other person’s face with a smile. Aside from that, she was the kindest person that she’d ever met. 

But, what Sofia remembered about her when the lights were out and she was scared and alone in her room, was the way her bloody and mutilated face had flies buzzing around it and teeth missing from the jaw even though it was barely the start of spring, the way her naked body had bloody cuts on the sides of it. Sofia remembered the mutilated scent glands, and how everyone but the omegas blamed Jolene. 

What she remembered the most though, was how it had taken one of the then seniors a week to pull her to the side and explain how when she’d found Jolene while walking with one of the middle schoolers to school, Jolene hadn’t had a pleasurable end. She understood then, that Jolene hadn’t wanted or liked what had happened to her. 

That day, a week later, and weeks before her fifteenth birthday, was when Sofia learned what the word rape meant. 

She walked away from the cousins. They deserved to be at Jolene’s memorial with as much privacy as she could give them. Dayja was sitting on the floor against the wall, all six feet and however many inches of Ethan folded into her small lap. 

Dayja was running a hand through his hair, trying to soothe him as much as she could. Sofia saw Chase looking at them worriedly through the corner of her eye and internally winced. 

The last thing Ethan needed was Chase’s misplaced efforts. 

Rather than point that out though, Sofia sat in front of Dayja so she could face both her and Ethan. 

“I hate,” he breathed out, breath hitching at the end, “I hate that all I see when I look at her is what could have happened to me,” he started crying again, soft whimpers into Dayja’s uniform skirt, “I don’t even remember her like that,” he confided at last, and Sofia just put a hand on his cheek so he would know he wasn’t alone. 

She hadn’t been through half the hell Ethan had, but it was what they all saw when they looked at Jolene, no matter how happy the girl looked in the pictures of her. Even worse, Ethan had probably only been around twelve or thirteen the Christmas it happened, and Jolene had died the spring after. 

She remembered when he’d missed his period, still young enough to not have had his heat yet, and she remembered how he’d gotten sick and still insisted that she shove the vitamin c tablets into his mouth. 

Someone had brought flowers, but she only knew because she could smell them without looking. Jolene had hated flowers, and had always looked at them with thinly veiled disgust in her eyes and a customer service smile on her face. She caught Dayja’s eye, and saw the other omega was just as ironically amused as she was. 

“Jasmine,” they said in unison, knowing the blonde was the only one who insisted on flowers instead of balloons. 

“Josie’s gonna lose her shit,” she told them conspiratorially. Dayja nodded solemnly, but Ethan just kept his face buried in the damp skirt. 

“Let’s get you outta here baby,” Dayja whispered to Ethan. Sofia agreed, and stood first so she could get the uncharacteristically pliant sophomore off of her friend. 

Ethan just gulped harshly, and whispered so quietly Sofia almost didn’t hear him, “I want my baby.” 

Sofia choked on her breath, and Dayja’s shoulders shook in a silent sob, but they just got the sophomore to the communal kitchens where there was a half of a cake left from one person or another. 

She let Dayja take the cake from the fridge, and the three of them sat down against the fridge with the half of a tres leches cake balanced on Ethan’s lap and dug in.

“Imma let the cousins take my room this year, we can share yours or Sofie’s if you want,” Dayja offered quietly, stroking the boy’s back with one hand. 

“Mine, please,” he said quietly, and it was the first clear thing he’d said. 

“That’s perfect, we’ll take my mattress and put your bed on the other wall.” It was a familiar setup, though usually only put together after the Den Alphas made sure everyone was in their rooms at midnight. Chase either wouldn’t care, or wouldn’t point it out though, considering what day it was. 

Ethan nodded, and unenthusiastically forked a piece of cake into his mouth. 

“I wanna sleep in the middle,” he said quietly, then after a beat, “I wanna go to the party.” 

The first bit wasn’t new, sleeping in between people was a comfort that had been around since before the differentiation between instinct and reason had. The second bit though, that was new. 

“I’ll find out who to give the money to,” Sofia assured, pretty sure it was either a junior or senior. 

“Think Jordan,” Dayja said, and pulled a twenty from her bra to hand to Sofia. She took it, and shoved it in her own bra so she wouldn’t lose it. 

Every year, they had a few parties in the abandoned tunnels under the orphanage, and one of them was a memorial party for Jolene. Sofia usually went, but also usually didn’t stay long. She thankfully, had just enough cash to give into the party fund since her money came in Sunday. 

Ethan hadn’t gone to Jolene’s party ever though, so she was surprised. 

They finished the cake, and Dayja left a post-it with a note in the place it had been in. It was enough of an effort considering it had probably been the leftovers of a cooking class. Ethan had some cool whip on his chin that Dayja wiped off for him, and he kept his hand clutched tightly in Sofia’s as they went back upstairs. 

It seemed that they hadn’t been late enough though. Josephine was curled in an alpha female’s lap, with Johnathan sitting pressed against the alpha’s side. 

Alexandria had been Jolene’s alpha when she died at sixteen, and out of pity had filed for Josephine. Sofia wasn’t sure, but last he heard, that after the two year waiting period had passed Alexandria filed for Johnathan as well. 

Sofia understood wanting to reunite the family, she really did, but well, mating and marrying cousins would never not rub her the wrong way. 

The alpha nodded at her, and she nodded back but didn’t say anything. She’d spoken to Alexandria once, and that was about it. It was three years ago, at Jolene’s funeral, in a too small funeral parlor to fit all the people that loved her. It had also been the first time that she’d seen an alpha cry, but that was something she liked to think of less. 

Two years ago, Alexandria had worked with Josephine and Jonathan to set up a proper memorial at the orphanage for Jolene, but ever since the night after the funeral, Jolene’s friends made sure that the high school and some of the middle school omegas met in the tunnels to honor her. The party was still organized by the seniors and juniors, but with everyone that remembered her leaving the orphanage system, Sofia didn’t know what would happen to it. 

Jordan was saying something to one of the eighth graders, so Sofia pulled the twenty from her bra, and took a ten from her backpack and slid it in the other omega’s hand as inconspicuous as she could be. 

The middle schooler didn’t say anything, but Jordan squoze her hand and accepted the money for Sofia, Dayja, and Ethan, so she went back to sit next to Ethan, and rubbed at his shoulder.

“I paid your ten baby, we’re getting you wasted if you want.” Dayja offered the quiet boy. He didn’t drink much though, he liked the semblance of control his sobriety gave him, so when he nodded, Sofia’s eyebrows rose in shock. 

“Do it with me?” Dayja nodded and said, “I’m down, and Sofia’s always down, have you met her?” 

Which was true, but Sofia didn’t really want to get drunk. She’d forgotten about the memorial entirely and just wasn’t completely in the mood, but there was already marijuana in her system so she’d fail whatever pee test they gave her regardless. 

“Dude, it's me,” she said instead of what she was thinking. 

The official memorial lasted a few more hours, and people from both the orphanage and her high school came by to pay their respects. Jolene’s family wasn’t allowed to come, and had it not been for the way Alexandria had recorded the service, Sofia would have guessed they didn’t even know she died. 

When the picture was taken down from the television and the frame with her pictures and balloons was moved somewhere, it was still barely eight. 

“Where we eating?” Dayja asked as Chase dragged away the last of the folding chairs. 

“Well if we were good people, we’d ask if they needed help buying stuff.” Ethan muttered. 

“I don’t feel like being a good person.” 

“And I’m not cooking,” Dayja added. Both Dayja and Ethan looked at Sofia then, but rather than answer, she laughed in disbelief. 

Sofia cooked sure, but not more than she had to, and definitely not if there were other options. She liked baking much better, if anything. 

“Why do we live in the middle of nowhere?” Dayja asked, sighing overdramatically and leaning against the wall behind her. 

“Because the government stole us from our families,” Sofia offered, and they laughed because there was nothing else for them to do. 

“Anyways,” Dayja said, still laughing, “there should be sandwich shit downstairs.” 

“Yeah but I don’t wanna have to eat leftovers.” Sofia said, not wanting the most likely stale, low carb, cauliflower pizza they’d served every Friday for months. If they went down there now, they’d probably get cornered by one of the Den Alphas and forced to eat it. 

“No one wants to eat them, uhh do you  _ want _ real food?” She relented, hoping they’d say no. 

Ethan gave her a wide, hopeful look that she hated Dayja for teaching him, and him even more for perfecting it. 

“Mashed potatoes?” He asked, in a hopeful voice, and Dayja whined a bit in agreement. 

“I hate cooking,” she said, but Dayja matched the look Ethan gave her, and she huffed and stomped over towards her room.

“I’m not doing this shit in uniform,” her words got her a look of reprimand from Chase, and a laugh from both Dayja and Ethan. 

She put on a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top, then slid into a pair of slides. Waiting for her outside her door was Dayja who was dressed similarly to her, straightened hair falling well below her ribs, and Ethan, who was wearing a long, pastel purple hoodie dress. 

His hair was longer than Dayja’s, and had a natural curl that was somewhere between wavy and kinky. On the rare occasion that he straightened it, it was a little longer than Sofia’s, but more often than not, he had it up in a ponytail or back in braids. 

“You look cute,” she said, but only got an eye roll in return. 

“Anyways, I’m not peeling or mashing, but I’ll help cut ‘em,” she said while they approached the elevator. 

“Then I’m not taking the mattress from your bed.”

“So it’s time to peel potatoes,” Sofia amended, and stepped into the elevator. 

“You’re not gonna help mash them?” Dayja whined. 

Sofia gave her a baleful look that would have made most people shrink back, but Dayja just laughed. 

“I’m the one that’s gonna get stuck taking care of ya’ll.”

“That’s true,” Ethan agreed, and stepped out of the elevator as it stopped moving, making her notice that he’d paired his dress with a pair of black Timberlands. Now, rather than cute, he looked more ridiculous than anything. 

The sight almost made Sofia laugh, but contrary to popular belief, she had some restraint when necessary. 

“ _ Anyways, _ ” Dayja said pointedly, “I saw a five pound bag earlier with our names on it.

“You planned this,” Sofia said, suddenly feeling ganged up on and slightly attacked. 

Ethan looked over his shoulder, the aforementioned bag of potatoes somehow in his hand even though they’d barely entered the kitchen, “You have no proof.” 

“I’m surrounded by psychopathic omega murderers.”

“I actually go by good omega in my free time,” Dayja said. Ethan placed the potato bag on the counter with a thunk, and the three of them moved to start taking out the knives and cutting boards they’d need. 

“I prefer princess,” Ethan offered. 

“One time I had a thumb in my mouth and I got baby girl, shit was magical.”

“Okay Sofia,” Dayja said, washing her hands, then taking a cutting board once she was done. 

“Last time I rode a knot, I got pretty omega,” Dayja said while Sofia started to wash the knives and rinse the potatoes. 

“You sexy bitch.”

“Only on Thursdays, today I’m pretty princess.”

“My apologies.” Sofia said and pulled her hair into a bun once she realized she’d forgotten to do so. 

“Oh shit, I forgot a clip-,” Dayja said, playing with the rubberband on her wrist and eyeing the clip in Ethan’s hair, “so Ethan, pretty please?” 

Ethan sighed, rolled his eyes and handed her the clip in return for her rubberband. 

“Get the pot please?” Sofia asked Ethan who nodded, and then she kicked the trash can towards the edge of the counter. There weren’t any chairs in the kitchen, and it looked more like the kitchen from  _ Orange is the New Black _ than anything welcoming. 

She took the knife and started peeling the potatoes, ignoring the potato peelers in favor of something faster. Behind her, Ethan was putting salt and oil in the pot of water. Dayja took the potatoes from her as she peeled them, then placed them in a bowl. 

Ethan came up behind her and helped her peel the rest of the potatoes, and soon enough they were finished. They put the pieces to boil, stirred it around a bit, cleaned up after themselves, and went upstairs to fix Ethan’s room. 

His nest was in the closet, but Sofia had a feeling their drunken selves would wind up making one, or would probably make one before leaving. He closed the closet door, and together they pulled his bed off of the left wall and pushed it against the far wall. It was a joint effort, and after he had to push the bins with his summer clothes back under the bed. 

Between the bed’s new spot and the dresser, there was just enough room for his mattress to be put vertically on the floor. Once that was done, they went over to Sofia’s room, which was still littered with empty takeout boxes from the night before. They all ignored it in favor of helping Sofia move the stuffed animals that lived on her bed and Dayja held her pillows and quilt while her and Ethan pulled the mattress up and towards his room. 

With both their mattresses on the floor, the setup was familiar and one that the omegas in the orphanages had used for years so they could comfortably share a room. 

They didn’t bother making anything look nice, just dropped Sofia’s quilt and pillows atop the setup and went back downstairs. It was nearly ten by then, and Sofia was hungrier than she’d been for most of the week before. 

When they got downstairs, the potatoes had just started to boil, and were soft enough that they could be drained. 

Instead of moving the potatoes into another pot, they carried it over to the sink and used a colander to drain the water and save themselves work. 

She left Dayja and Ethan to work together to get the potatoes mashed while she pulled out some of the things she’d need. 

“Jordie wants to know if any of us have anything,” she said aloud as the message came through. 

“And you’re asking us?” Dayja asked, gesturing between herself and Ethan. 

Sofia shrugged and said, “Was worth a shot, don’t know if she wants what I got though.”

“What do you got?” Dayja asked, stirring the potatoes. 

“Just puff bars, even if I had shit hidden, I don’t remember where.” 

“See if she wants them,” Dayja offered, and gestured for Sofia to take over. 

“I asked,” Sofia said and got up to rewash her hands. 

She poured the ingredients she’d need into the pot, then stirred them until they were as nicely folded in as it would get and asked plaintively, “Do we really need plates?”

“It won’t fit into my fridge.”

“Who said it was going into your fridge?” Dayja asked, falsely affronted. 

Ethan just shrugged and pushed Sofia out of the way so he could taste the mashed potatoes, add more salt, and restir it. 

“We could finish the whole thing.” 

“We won’t.” 

“We might.”

“But we won't,” Ethan said again. 

“We could eat outside and someone’ll join us,” Dayja tried, but like she thought he would, Ethan shook his head. 

“Where ‘re those trays? That’ll fit in the fridge and I won’t have to wash it.”

“Smart man.”

Ethan didn’t respond, just fiddled with his pastel purple collar that she only just noticed was the same color as his dress. 

“I’ll get it,” Sofia offered, then got it from one of the higher shelves in the pantry. It was a long and thin disposable catering tray they probably wouldn’t fill with the little bit of food she’d made, and the clear top was right next to it. 

She rinsed out the tray, and handed it to Ethan to start filling. After he was done, she took a sponge and washed the pot while Dayja gathered a cold two liter soda bottle and some plastic forks they could just throw away later. 

Part of Sofia wanted to grab the non-disposable utensils instead, but the turtles could survive the little bit of plastic in those forks. 

Washing the pot didn’t take long, and they got upstairs before midnight hit. 

“What time’s it start?” Ethan asked, shouldering the door to his room open. 

“Two, I think, and she wants the bars. Remind me to get ‘em before we leave.”

“You should get ‘em now,” Dayja said and nodded towards Sofia’s door. She shrugged and went into her room so she could wrap the puff bars up in the black sweater she’d be needing later. 

“We have such healthy coping mechanisms,” Sofia said to herself as she closed her door. 

Sitting on the sofa were Josephine, Jonathan, and Jordan, so Sofia stopped instead of going straight into Ethan’s room to say, “Hey did Dayja talk to you?” Josephine nodded with a small smile on her face, “Yeah, we’re gonna take her room ‘cause someone’s is a mess.”

Sofia shrugged, mentally wondered when Dayja had talked to her, and went into Ethan’s room. 

Ethan and Dayja had left the food, drinks, and utensils on his desk and were buzzing around the room looking for something. Sofia put the folded sweater on the desk, and kicked off her shoes. 

“Nest,” he said, smelling far better than he had earlier. 

“Nest,” she agreed, plunked herself down, and starting moulding the sheets he’d thrown down to use alongside him and Dayja. 

With three omegas working together, the nest was large, bountiful, and didn’t take long to make. The end product was in an oval shape with walls around foot and a half high, and didn’t have much of a base, but had pillows lined on the end where their heads would rest. 

Much to her surprise, Ethan let them eat in the nest, and they put the tray in front of them while he pulled out his laptop and opened Netflix. 

“We should nap,” he said around a mouthful of food. 

“If I nap I’m staying asleep, they’ll have red bull anyways.”

“Spiked red bull is the shit,” Sofia said. 

“You’re a fuggin’ alcy.”

“Shut up Dayja, and pass me the soda.” 

Dayja passed her the two liter of Sprite they’d been drinking out of. She took a long swig, then put it between her legs. 

“What movie?” Ethan asked. 

Sofia and Dayja shrugged, they were both indecisive. 

“Action? Comedy?” 

“Comedy?” Sofia asked, unsure. 

“Uhh what about  _ White Chicks, _ haven’t seen it in a while?” Ethan said, mouse hovering over the movie. Sofia nodded and Dayja shrugged. 

“What time’s it go ‘til?” 

“Six ish? Maybe seven, I can’t stay ‘til seven though. Gotta be downstairs for a date by noon.” 

“You’re gonna sleep off whatever the fuck we take in four, five hours?” 

“Well, no but I’ll figure it out. If I could take a regent still sorta high, I can do a date hungover Dayja.” 

Ethan gave her a look of disbelief that she didn’t pay attention to, and she put her head on his shoulder. A knock on the door had Dayja and her scrambling to cover their jeans with a blanket, and Ethan doing his best to make his hoodie dress look more like a regular hoodie. 

“Hello?” Chase asked, opening the door, “Past midnight, had to make sure everyone’s here. Dayja you’re lucky the cousins took your room, you know the rules, and Sofia,” he turned his disapproving eyes on her annoyed ones, “you’re lucky today is what it is.” 

He sighed and left the room just as Sofia and Dayja started giggling. The only real reason he had an issue with them not being in their rooms was that they’d shared the night before. Den Alphas didn’t care much for the rules about them being in their own rooms so long as they were in the building, but two nights in a row was pushing it a bit. 

They were just glad Chase was bad at noticing most things, like how Ethan’s Timberlands were still waiting by the door, or how the ankle of Dayja’s jeans peeked out from under the blanket. 

“Should we shower?” Ethan asked once he’d closed the door and their giggling had died down. 

“After, it’ll help us sober up a bit, and I’m not dirtying another pair of jeans.” 

The other two didn’t comment, and Sofia wasn’t sure if she felt old or like the alcoholic Dayja had jokingly called her. 

The movie finished just as they were supposed to be in the tunnels, but they still tried to make their scents as strong in the room as possible so it would smell like they were inside, and went as far as to arrange some pillows under the blankets so it would look like people were there. 

A quarter after two, Dayja stuck her head out the door and gestured for Ethan and Sofia to follow. Getting into the tunnels was the easy part, but they had to move around carefully to avoid the few cameras that were in their way. 

Inside the long, dusty tunnel were the five other omegas from the high school floor, Jolene’s cousins, and the ten middle schoolers, all sitting around on blankets that had been laid out to protect them from the old, cold ground. There was a song blaring from a speaker, a bin half full of cold red bulls, half full of canned sodas, and another bin full of jungle juice. 

“We’re supposed to finish that?” Ethan asked, looking apprehensively at the bin. 

“We’ll bottle and split up the rest.” 

“Hey, nice to see you, I got the stuff,” she told Jordan once she got to the already drunk girl. 

“Great, love that shit.”

“I know, here.” 

Jordan accepted the handful of puff bars, put them in the midle of one of the blankets, then started pulling from one. She wound up pulling too hard, and coughing even as she laughed. 

Sofia started getting cups of the juice, and handed one to Ethan, and the other to Dayja. Everyone else was already tipsy, even some of the sixth and seventh graders. Sofia’s more maternal side was concerned, but she knew she wouldn’t be too concerned once she was drunk. 

She took a sip of the jungle juice, and nearly spit it out, “This fucking handsanitizer?” She asked Jordan, who shrugged. 

The juice was strong, and by her third cup she was feeling it. 

She sat against the wall on one of the blankets besides Ethan. Soon enough, he had his head on her shoulder and was taking pulls from the guava puff bar. 

“This is nice,” he half slurred. He was on his second cup, but Sofia had noticed the change in him when he was halfway through his first. 

Dayja was dancing with Jordan to a fast paced song in Spanish that she didn’t know the entire translation to, but it was a good song. She looked at Ethan, who was smiling dopily, and asked, “Dance?” 

He narrowed his eyes in consideration, coherent enough to still think, “Get me another drink first.” She nodded, took his empty cup, emptied her own, and went to refill the cups. 

When she got back, Ethan was holding her phone up to show her a message that had come in, “Rose,” he said, and she nodded and took the phone. 

It seemed that Rose had the worst timing, and wanted her to know she’d be dropping the kitten off at eleven in the morning. 

Sofia cursed, vowed to deal with that later, and put her phone in her back pocket. She rolled up the sleeves of the hoodie she’d just put on a few minutes earlier, and gestured for Ethan to get up. 

He got up with a high pitched giggle, then took her hand to spin her. 

It was a good night, if an unhealthy way to deal with what they were all feeling, and though Sofia knew she’d be taking care of both Ethan and Dayja later on, it was worth it. They’d never have the college experience that alphas and betas would get, but this was close enough.    
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The warnings for this chapter are mentions of rape, hints of undiagnosed PTSD, a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms, and underaged drinking. 
> 
> As always, I love the love I'm getting from you guys, and let me know if you've got any ideas for this story.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/04/2020
> 
> Hey, a bit of a lighter chapter for you guys, and I don't know if you noticed but I changed the summary to fit my new image of the story a bit better. It doesn't mean that anything about the story will be changing, just that I've found better words to describe it.
> 
> On another note, my goal was to try and keep the trends I'm using here on par with the time I've set the story in, but if you've been active on social media recently, you'll get what I'm saying a little towards the end of the story.

Sofia woke up at ten thirty, half buried under Ethan’s weight, and wearing only her black hoodie. She only vaguely remembered stumbling into the shower not long before the sun started coming up, and not wanting to put on any clothes. 

Of course, that was after both Ethan and Dayja had taken turns throwing up and crying. 

She would have gloated in how right her earlier suspicions had been, but she had a pounding headache and was pretty sure there were videos of her giving someone a lap dance somewhere. 

Ethan was easy to push off of her chest, even though she had to switch her body out for a pillow, but worry settled into her chest when she looked around the room and didn’t see her clothes. She went into her room as quietly as she could, thankful Chase wasn’t anywhere she could see. 

Inside her room she only saw her jeans, tank top, collar and bra thrown on the ground. Sighing, she said “I have no clue where my panties are,” even as she gave up on the search before it really started. 

She didn’t look for them though, just grabbed her towel and stumbled over to grab her towel and shower supplies. She shot Rose a text asking for food when she got into the bathroom, and tapped through Snapchat while she showered. 

It turned out that not only had she given more than one lapdance, but that she’d received at least three and had thrown her shirt at a middle schooler around four in the morning. 

There was nothing else for her to do than shrug it off and shower quickly, though she was pretty sure she’d die of embarrassment after the headache lightened up. 

When she got downstairs, Rose was standing there with a pink drink, and a bag of McDonalds, along with a large purse that was moving a bit, and two other bags. 

“You brought it to me in a fucking purse?” She hissed, kissing her friend on the cheek and taking the bags. 

“I brought all the formula and pads and shit don’t complain. I gotta go, thank you so much.” 

As Rose nearly ran out of the orphanage, Sofia wondered whatever happened to kittens using kitty litter, but there wasn’t much for her to do. 

She was only wearing a pair of sweatpants and the black hoodie when she’d gone downstairs, so she put on some clean clothes then ate enough of the food that she wouldn’t be hungry for a while, and downed the thirty ounce drink in a few sips. Rose, who was officially her favorite person, had put a few espresso shots in the pink drink so it helped her headache more than she’d admit. 

She dressed herself in a light pink, cropped cable knit sweater that she had to put a tank top under, and a pair of blue jeans with her white slip on Vans. A second thought had her taking off the undershirt and switching her jeans for a higher waisted pair so her stomach wouldn’t show unless she raised her arms. Once that was done, she put on enough makeup that she hopefully wouldn’t look as hungover as she felt. 

“So, I don’t know your name,” she said at last to the kitten, “I’m gonna call you Cat though, also I have no clue how to take care of you, but here is a box,” she pulled the books she owned out of the small Amazon box, “and in TV they have like blankets in the box. I also don’t know how you’d like to be fed, so I’ll just leave this here for you.” She said, gesturing towards the tupperware she’d filled with the formula Rose had made for her, and the other one beside it that she poured dry food in. 

“I have to leave, but if you get caught, I will get my ass beat and you will not be happy - why are you touching me, I don’t know you, please stop,” Cat had sat down on her white shoes, wide green eyes staring at her, and black fur puffed up comically. 

“Anyways, I’m placing you in this box. There are blankets in the corner if you want them,” she pointed to the three blankets she’d pulled from her nest. 

“Have a good day,” she said, grabbed her things, made sure her collar was on right, and went downstairs to drink more coffee. 

There were some caramel flavored iced coffees in the cafeteria, and she picked one up while texting Dayja there was some food in her room, and warning the other girl that she had someone in her room. She threw out the empty cup and grabbed another before going out to the lobby as noon hit. 

Standing in the lobby was the pack, sans Peter and Harley this time. The image that they presented never failed to shock her. It was casual yet somehow formidable at the same time, inviting with the palpable ability to become intimidating in the blink of an eye. 

“Hey,” Tony said, looking up from where he was probably about to text her. 

“Hey.” She tried not to give them the usual up and down look as she greeted them, but she probably failed if the way Tony’s eyes twinkled was any indication. 

“That’s a,” Tony muttered, gulped, then finished with, “deeper cut shirt than usual.”

Sofia blushed and squeaked out a “Sorry.”

“I’m not,” Clint said and slung an arm over her shoulders. She wrapped an arm around his back in a half hug, but was too busy blushing to look up at him. 

Bucky looked at her and scrunched up his nose before announcing, “You smell like a cat.”

“My apologies? I’m not friends with any cats,” Sofia said, mentally cursing at herself for forgetting the scent of the cat would cling to her. 

“What?” Bucky asked, but something in Clint’s ear caught her eye and gave her the opportunity to change the conversation. 

“Is that a hearing aid?” She asked, hopefully not insensitively. If it was what she thought it was, then it was one of the more covert ones she’d seen, so she wasn’t really sure. 

“Oh? Uh yeah,” Clint answered easily. 

“That’s cool,” she said, then added on, “I’m legally blind.”

Clint gave a slightly awkward, “Cool,” so she soldiered on and said, “I could be the Helen to your Keller.” 

He gave her a bright smile, and proudly said, “I love it, Helen.” 

She gave him a nod and responded with, “Keller.” 

“I thought I was the nerdy one,” Tony mocked a bit, fond eyes on her and Clint. 

“Now before we leave, if anyone attacks my car they’re walking,” Tony announced proudly and went to sign the sheet. 

“It’s a school bus.” 

“You’re lucky I’m a gentleman,” Tony said, pointing an accusatory pen at her. 

“I’m forever in your debt, anyways you should get a sticker that says ‘Stark Mobile’ and put it on the bumper.” 

“Sofia don’t encourage him,” Bruce said as Sam sighed. 

“No, it's too late now I want it” Tony proudly said, finished signing with a flourish, and led the way out the orphanage doors that had seemed so imposing the afternoon before. 

Sofia shrugged and was hopefully not as obvious as she felt when she walked through the doorway. 

“It's so big,” she chuckled out when they got closer. 

“That’s what you’ll sa-hey!” Tony tried to say, but Natahsa put a hand over his mouth. Sofia laughed in spite of the bad joke, and Tony waggled his eyebrows at her. The others got in the car first like last time, but this time Bucky nudged her towards the middle after Clint got in rather than Peter or Harley. 

“You doing okay?” Bucky asked her quietly once they were all settled in the car. Sofia didn’t pause to think about her answer since she knew she wasn’t doing anywhere near as fine as she was supposed to be doing, but she wasn’t exactly about to tell the truth either. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” she settled on. 

Bucky didn’t look like he believed her, but put a hand on her thigh in place of a verbal response. She tried to get as close to both of them as she could, but couldn’t quite manage to plaster herself to both of them until Bucky moved closer. 

“We were thinking bowling, I got a lane reserved in Chelsea.”

Sofia smiled softly, already half asleep between the two alphas. 

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want,” Clint offered, but she just shook her head from where it was resting on his shoulder, “No, I wanna go. I like bowling.”

“Alright,” Clint murmured quietly and stroked a piece of hair back from her face before he leant down to kiss her. 

She hummed into the kiss and leant up to deepen it. His hand tangled in her hair, and she’d never been so glad to have neglected a seatbelt before. 

Bucky’s hand that had been on her knee went to her side to steady her, and she pulled away to get a breath and smile at Clint before leaning back up to kiss him again. This time, when he licked at her lips, she opened obligingly and didn’t make an attempt to fight for dominance of the interaction. 

Clint gave her a noise of approval from somewhere in his chest that was pure alpha and made her whine plantatively. He kept his hands firmly on her waist, as did Bucky, even though she had basically plastered herself to him. It lasted for a minute or two, until Tony half turned and said, “Hey, no groping the minor.”

Sofia pulled away once she registered his words and looked at him, confused, “But the minor can get kissed?” 

“It makes sense when you don’t say it in that tone,” he defended. 

“That’s so rude.”

“Minor, not so minor charges.” 

Sofia narrowed her eyes at Tony who was looking a little too serious for her liking and said, “I don’t care.” 

“Now  _ that’s _ rude,” Tony gasped, “I wouldn’t last a day in prison.” 

“You could start a mob?” She offered. 

“No prison gangs,” Sam called out.

“What Sam said, no prison gangs,” Bruce agreed from the driver’s seat. 

“Prison,  _ mob,  _ not gang.” Natasha defended, and though she wasn’t laughing, Sofia could hear the sarcastic amusement in her voice. 

“It’s basically a business,” Steve added. 

“I don’t like where this conversation is going,” Bucky said, running a hand up and down Sofia’s thigh when she’d sat down properly again. She glared at him when he put his hand on the inside of her thigh, and abruptly shut her legs tighter. 

“Is it your hand now?” He asked, an eyebrow arched. 

“Yes, I’m keeping it.” 

“Like you’re keeping a cat?” 

“That was uncalled for, I have no cat. I told you I’m not even friends with any.” 

Sofia was either too hungover to be on her game, or her deflection talents had died in a fire when she wasn’t looking. Then, there was the possibility that her hindbrain just didn’t like the idea of her lying to these alphas to the point that it stopped her from doing it. Regardless, if they kept bringing Cat up then she was either going to walk away or tell them what they already knew. 

“Well Tony’ll make me another hand I guess,” he shrugged his free shoulder. The shiny metal of his left hand was bright against her dark blue jeans, but the metal wasn’t cold like she expected it to be. 

“Huh?”

“Oh, Tony made my arm couple ‘a years ago, there’s a button on the back of the shoulder so ya can take it home if you want.” 

“I might,” she put both hands atop his, he was flexing his grip and it made her want to squirm, “its my arm though now.” 

“Can I have it on Wednesdays?” 

“No.” 

“Sofia it’s his  _ arm, _ ” Sam attempted to stress. Bucky laughed, and put his chin on her head. The move wasn’t uncomfortable, but it meant that it deprived her of the view everyone else probably got when she heard Bucky and Clint kiss. 

“This is degrading,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Turn eighteen and I’ll show you degrading sweet heart,” Bucky said, and pressed a kiss to her temple. 

“Bah,” she squeaked out, and turned to glare at him. 

“And now he’s mentally groping the minor,” Tony sighed. 

“Hey, you never said we couldn’t mentally grope the minor,” Sam defended. 

Everyone was chuckling aside from Sofia, who wasn’t sure whether to be mortified or amused, and Thor mumbled, “Aye.” 

She rolled her eyes and put her head back on Clint’s shoulder. Her stomach was rolling around uncomfortably after everything she’d put in it the past two days. Experience told her the only thing that would really help was sleep and maybe a beer, but she probably wouldn’t be getting either. 

“Poor minor,” Bruce muttered sarcastically, shooting her a wink from the rearview mirror. Clint started gently scratching her head again, and her legs relaxed enough that Bucky was able to rub his hand up and down her thigh in a soothing motion. 

At some point during the ride, Tony looked up from his phone and said, “Hey Bruce watch out road work ahead.”

“Sure hope it does,” Sofia replied with a smile. 

“Why would it not?” Thor asked from behind her. 

“Issa vine.” 

“Now, I know what that is, well kinda, kinda sorta.” 

“I’m proud Tony, congratulations.” Steve said, and she could hear him typing something, but couldn’t see what it was. 

Sofia’s phone was buzzing in her back pocket, quickly and rapidly enough that she thought it was a phone call. Rather than be a phone call though, it was a series of text messages. The first one she clicked on was from Dayja, and was a picture of her previously lost panties with a blank faced Ethan holding Cat in the back. 

She answered as quickly as possible to minimize the risk of anyone looking at it over her shoulder, and went to the other messages. 

When she’d opened the message from Ethan, Sofia guessed that it would be about the night before. Instead, it was a link to a TikTok video of Bucky yelling at Steve. The video had the ugly chrome filter on it, and Bucky was wearing a pair of comically large and ill fitting sunglasses that covered most of the top of his face. 

In the video, Bucky was yelling at Steve about how you shouldn’t give cigarettes to asthma patients, and she recognized the conversation from the Sunday before. 

“Fuck is that?” Bucky asked and leaned over so he could stare at the screen. 

She handed the phone to him, laughter falling from her lips. 

“Bucky that has a million likes holy fuck,” she gasped out. 

“Harley said he was gonna post it,” Bruce pointed out, laughing at Bucky’s auto tuned voice berating Steve. 

“It’s okay Bucky, we stan.” 

“What?” 

“Give the minor her phone back Buck,” Sam said, slapping the back of Bucky’s head. Sofia accepted it when Bucky offered it back even though there was a mocking glare on his face. The first thing she did was tap the screen as quickly as she could to like the video. 

“I regret nothing,” she said, then typed a response to Ethan. 

Bucky snorted and patted her on the shoulder, then said, “See if you can nap, you’re tired as shit.” 

Sofia glared at him, but closed her eyes anyways. Chelsea wasn’t far and they’d probably only be in the car another fifteen or so minutes, but she still let her eyes close slowly. 

~~~~

Her liver was going to die. 

She was certain that her liver was going to shrivel up and die, or abandon her like everyone else seemed to do, whichever came first, really. 

Steve had offered her a rum and coke, and if she declined then it would look highly out of character for her, but if she accepted she’d probably die of alcohol poisoning. It was also going to be the third drink she’d had, even though she’d carefully nursed the first two. 

Still, she looked at Steve, and said, “Yeah, thanks.” 

He arched an eyebrow at her, and she mentally shot herself in the foot. Her stomach was still angry at her for what she’d drunk the night before, but she’d been eating whatever they shoved at her for the last few hours, so it wasn’t as bad as earlier. In place of the spread that had been there a while ago, there was a myriad of empty and mostly empty plates. 

Natasha came back from her turn bowling, and sat to her right as Steve sat down across from her. 

“So, we have something serious to talk about, well kinda serious,” Steve started tentatively. 

“Okay?” Sofia asked, sincerely hoping that they weren’t about to bring up last night. The fear that they would do that had been lingering in the back of her head for the entire time, and her anxiety bubbled up at the thought of it coming true. 

“So, there was this paperwork thing, and I found out - just know this doesn’t change anything, we’re gonna figure this out - uhh, anyways so I-”

“Stevie’s undocumented,” Clint finished. 

“Oh,” Sofia said, “that’s not funny, but I mean it’s kinda ironic when you think about it.” 

“That’s what I said!” Sam agreed, 

“The not so American symbol of America,” Clint said, gesturing with his hands like it was a sign to be read. 

“Technically,” Steve started, “I was born on the boat,  _ before _ we left Ireland though, so there’s not much for me to defend.” 

Sofia thought that the idea of giving birth on a boat was more terrifying than anything, but she didn't think that would be the right thing to say. 

“Anyways, Steve’s gotta do this whole citizen thing but he’s white so they’re gonna bump him to the top of the list.” Tony finished and patted a blushing Steve on the shoulder. 

“Yeah, the government’s shit,” Steve grumbled, blush still prominent on his cheeks. It was an ironic thing for someone who’d worked for and fought for the government before most of the people she knew had been born, but coming from someone who was a registered communist once upon a time, it wasn’t too bad. 

“Shush, don’t let the conservatives hear you,” Natasha chastened, forking some cheesy fries into her mouth. 

“Long story short, there might be a paperwork delay, but they’re trying to keep this quiet even though someone wants to shout it from the rooftops,” Bucky finished. 

“You should man, it’ll be funny. It’ll be like the vine but ‘I’m an Irishman, I thought you were American,’ or not,” she concluded at their stunned silence, “Or not.” 

“You are just going to have to show us this vine,” Thor consoled her with a small grin on his face. 

“Later, it’s her turn,” Natasha nudged her knee. The attempt was pointless since while not in dead last, she’d been coming in second to last for the past two games, smack between Sam who was in seventh, and Bruce who was in ninth. It was a strangely competitive game, but everyone seemed at ease and she knew it was all in good spirits. 

The fact that she had to use a lighter bowling ball was only slightly embarrassing, but she was also pretty sure they just used the heavier ones to prove something to themselves. 

When she went up to grab the bright blue bowling ball, she pretended not to notice the eyes on her back and hoped that her shoes wouldn’t fail her. Like last time, she didn’t get a strike, but was thankfully only left with two balls right next to each other so she was able to get a spare. 

Tony had rented out the entire section so they’d have the space to themselves, which was part of the reason they were there so early, and they’d be leaving soon, but the arcade was opening in a few minutes so after the game finished it was where they’d be going. 

The game was over soon after Bruce lost for the third time and Natasha got first place overall and second in the last game. By then, the waiters were already standing near the sidelines to clean up after them so they gathered their things and started walking towards the arcade. 

It was a short walk to the arcade, and after Sam handed out the game cards, they promptly split up. Clint and Bucky went to a sniper game, and she was pretty sure that they’d wind up either breaking the high score or the game entirely. 

Not in the mood for something overly challenging, Sofia went towards one of the games to play for ducks rather than the lock and key game beside it. 

As she was collecting her first batch of small rubber ducks, Sam came over to her with a paper cup that had bits of condensation bubbling up on the sides of it. 

“Ginger ale,” he said and gave her a knowing look. 

Sofia pouted, but knew the ginger ale would taste good, so swapped it for the ducks. He put them into his pocket with a soft, but confident smile and gentle eyes that made Sofia want to lean up and kiss him, but Sofia had felt mushy enough yesterday, and didn’t want to do it again today so she said as sarcastically as she could without sounding disrespectful, “Thanks Daddy.” 

Sam died. 

The only other possible term for it would have been a severe malfunction. His cheeks darkened to the point that she knew if he was fair skinned they would have been brighter than a firetruck reflecting the July sun in New York, and his eyes widened in shock. What caught Sofia’s attention though, was the way his breath ticked up audibly and arousal made his scent thicken. 

He didn’t move towards her, but she saw the way his hand flexed as if to grab her chin. 

“I’m gonna grope the minor,  _ fuck, _ ” he whispered to himself harshly, and Sofia stepped closer, completely on board with it. 

“The minor definitely consents to groping the minor,” she mumbled back, not completely in his space, but close enough that she couldn’t see over his shoulder without giving herself a crick in the neck. 

“ _I_ am supposed to be the irresponsible one,” Tony said, and slid into the small space between Sam and Sofia. She huffed, the hush that had fallen over her and Sam gone, but he just continued on, “I also refuse to be a sex offender, or associated with them, so help me out Sofia what’s wap mean?  Someone asked me about mine and I’m not sure.” 

Sofia blinked at that, not wanting to be the one to tell Tony Stark that he’d just used the acronym for wet ass pussy, and still a little annoyed at the cockblock, “Work and progress.”

“Huh okay, weird phrasing but I’ll tell ‘em it’s good, also Sam let the minor get the ducks and no groping the minor.” Tony walked away, and Sofia was glad they weren’t looking at her as the laughter and second hand embarrassment bubbled up in her chest. 

Her next stop was a similar looking game, and she immediately set her sights on the stuffed dragon that was arguably hard to reach. Twenty minutes had passed and she still wasn’t able to get it, and she was getting annoyed. Thor came up next to her and announced his presence with a tap to her shoulder. 

“May I try?” He asked gently. She narrowed her eyes at the traitorous machine in front of her, and stepped to the side so Thor could play the game. 

It took him a few tries, and as his fourth started, he said, “Do you like dragons?” 

“Huh?” She asked a little caught off guard, “Oh yeah, when I was little I used to want one.” 

Thor gave a noncommittal hum before saying just as he got the dragon, “I would have to speak to the others, but there are many species of dragon that can be kept as house pets.” 

“Holy shit, you serious?” She questioned, pulling the stuffed animal to her chest the second he gave it to her. 

“I would have to speak with the others first,” he conceded, but gave her a gentle smile that was more of a yes than anything she’d ever gotten.

The dragon was a soft material contrary to the usually cheap material most stuffed animals from these games were, and a deep blue that was almost black. It had bright purple eyes that were wide with as much hope as a stuffed animal could have. 

Another few hours passed before they left, and by the time they did, the sun was looking ready to set and her arms were laden with the myriad of stuffed animals that they’d all won over the course of the past few hours. 

She tried to insist on them taking at least a few, but Sam had just given her a look that made her throat close around words that hadn’t fully formed yet. 

Now, when they settled into the still comically large car, she was sandwiched tightly between Natasha and Bruce, halfway on the redhead’s lap, and clutching a teddy bear nearly as large as the Mickey Mouse she had at home. The dragon was sitting on Bruce’s lap, looking strangely annoyed. Instead of scratching her head soothingly like she’d had done to her on the trip into Manhattan, Natasha slid her long fingers onto the back of her throat and scratched her scruff. 

A purr rumbled in her chest at the soothing motion, and she didn’t stifle it, opting to let it sound out into the otherwise near silent car. The scent of pleased alpha filled the car, making her hindbrain preen proudly. Her bones felt like jelly, and her mind melted peacefully alongside it. 

She looked shyly up at Bruce since she couldn’t comfortably look at Natasha, feeling pleasantly drunk and a little dumb. Bruce shot her a smile and his brows were furrowed the way they had been when she kissed him the first time. This time though, she could tell it wasn’t confusion but rather that he was thinking about something seriously. The differentiation was most likely due to her growing familiarity with them, but she liked to think that she was just good at reading people. 

Contrary to what happened that Wednesday in the museum, Bruce leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips that were still vibrating from the purr rumbling in her chest. 

She gave him a dopey smile that usually only donned her face when she was incredibly drunk, and he rubbed his nose against hers. Inside, her hindbrain was reveling to the point where she felt drunk  _ and _ high, and this was far better than how she’d felt in a while. 

She wished that she could always ignore her emotions like she was doing now, that she wouldn’t have to wait around for the good days to distract her from the bad, but Natasha pressed her nails into her scruff a bit harder, and scratched a bit firmer so she didn’t say a word. The action was far from a proper scruffing, which would have involved teeth, and hopefully a lot less clothes, but it still felt good. 

“Take a nap Sofia,” Bruce laughed against her lips, and hushed her gently. She pouted, not wanting to admit she was tired and wishing they’d give up on their ‘no groping the minor’ campaign. If Natasha could just put her  _ teeth _ in her scruff rather than her nails, but-

For once in her life, she listened and pressed her forehead to Bruce’s shoulder. Unconsciousness took her quickly, and before she realized it her breath was even and eyelids heavy. 

When she woke up, it was to sluggishly give the pack her goodbyes and zombie walk to her room where Cat was staring at her expectantly. 

She dropped her stuffed animals on her already crowded desk, atop all of the work she didn’t feel like doing and a few other things. 

“I’m not talking to you Cat, please get off of my foot at least switch fee-I’m going to sleep in Ethan’s room,” she finished, seeing how there was still food and no mattress. She gave Cat the cat more food, and glared at the annoyingly soft creature as she left. 

Ethan was still in the nest they’d made last night, so she pulled off her shoes and joined him. He patted her head a bit patronizingly and said, “We thought you were kidnapped.” 

“I’d only let the mobster bad boy take me.”

“How the fuck did you even function?” He asked, still looking at his phone. 

“I woke up and forgot I had legs, then noticed I was naked and had no panties in sight.”

“You need therapy,” he groused, rolling halfway over so he could lay on top of her again. His weight was comforting on top of her, and the sleep she’d just pushed herself out of started to pull back at her. 

“Nah, maybe sex.”

“No.”

“Ethan,” she whined, squirming unhappily, “it’s been a month.”

Which was true, she hadn’t had sex in weeks and even though she wasn’t exactly horny, she wasn’t sure what else to do to appease the hunger inside of her for  _ something _ .

“Well you’ll just have to live.”

“I hate the simulation.” 

“Bad Sofia,” he groused, then pulled off of her so he was crouched over her, “if you shower we can sleep ‘til next week,” he offered. 

“I’m never looking at jungle juice again,” she swore and sat up.

“Sofia you have the rest of it bottled up and in your fridge,” he said, then laughed so hard he rolled off of her and onto his back. 

“Are you dead ass?” 

“Dead fucking ass Sofia,” he gasped out. 

Sofia shrugged, and mentally crossed her fingers that Chase wouldn’t mention anything about them sharing a room again. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think I love hearing your opinions on it, and any ideas you may have.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/6/2020-4/7/2020

Sofia had resorted to using an oversized handbag, not out of will, but for the sole purpose that Cat would be crushed in her backpack. Thankfully, while large, the bag wasn't ridiculously large and the inside of it was split into two, s0 that one side could be occupied by Cat, and the other by the few books she’d need throughout the day.

As she looked down at the quietly disgruntled kitten, she hissed out “Do you eat bacon?” The kitten didn’t give her a response - not that Sofia thought she would - so she just slipped the piece of bacon into the opening of her purse anyways. 

As the kitten bit into the piece of meat tentatively, Sofia mentally sighed. Cat hadn’t stopped wiggling since Sofia had put the squirming kitten into her purse on her way out of her room, and she was getting anxious at the thought of getting caught. 

“Fuck are you Muslim? Or, what’s the other one for no pork? Jewish? I don’t know any others,  _ shit, _ can cats even have religion? Well your mom was owned by Catholics so I’m just gonna go with that,” she rambled, holding the rest of the piece of meat steady as the kitten munched, “okay now you have to stay there - no do not try to climb out - it’s not even first period,” she finished saying to the kitten and put a blanket over the animal’s head. 

With any luck, the kitten would fall asleep quickly and hopefully stay asleep throughout the day. There weren’t many different routes she’d be able to wind up on if she got caught with Cat by any of the teachers, and each one her imagination conjured was worse than the other. 

Regardless, leaving Cat in her room was an even worse option, and in a split second decision she had scooped the kitten up in a blanket then put her in one of her larger purses. Now, the kitten was periodically attempting to roam around her purse, and Sofia was hoping that she’d fall asleep soon. 

The bell rang not long after that, and Sofia hastily fed Cat the rest of her disassembled sandwich. Her first class of the day was AP Government, which meant she didn’t have much to pay attention to, so she just sat in her normal seat at the back of the class and left her purse in her lap. Cat stood asleep for the entirety of that period, and only briefly blinked her wide green eyes open a few times over the course of the next two periods. The kitten didn’t wake up fully until she was walking down the stairs and into the cafeteria. 

She hadn’t remembered to bring any of the kitten food, and she normally didn’t get lunch for herself, but she brought a small order of french fries and carefully slipped them through the opening in the bag one by one for the kitten to eat. Usually, the kitten ate her food sporadically throughout the day, so Sofia wasn’t surprised when her hand was nearly attacked. 

It went on for a while, and they made it halfway through the french fries before the kitten started refusing it. Not very hungry herself, Sofia just wrapped a paper towel around the container and hoped that the fries wouldn’t spill out into her bag. 

For her next class, she didn’t have much to do since it was group work, though she wouldn’t be able to sit at her desk and do nothing like she’d been doing for most of the day. Unthinkingly, after she entered the room, she left her bag on her usual chair and went to the other end of the room. 

Her, Paulie, and Josephine were working on a project about the impact of urbanization on social development in children. The project was just getting started, and she had a feeling Paulie had done a majority of the work the Friday before since most of that week was lost in a haze of unspecific and vague memories. 

“Hey, do you have a pen?” Paulie asked, looking up from where he was scratching a pen that had since run out of ink against a spot on a sheet of looseleaf paper.

“No, I might have one hidden in my room - out of all people why are you - oh, wrong pen, yeah the black bag in one of the pockets,” she said, and looked back down so she could help Josephine finish something up on the outline. The classroom wasn’t loud, but was probably louder than the teacher would have liked if the way she kept looking between them and the clock was an indication. Regardless, the old woman should have been grateful since she knew how loud they could get. 

Still, the volume in the room was low enough that she heard Paulie’s hiss of pain before he came back over to her, her purse in one hand and the other hand cradled to his chest. 

“You have a fucking kitten in your bag?” He asked, pointing a bloody finger towards her. 

Her eyes widened in shock, having been too busy working to remember Cat, but accepted the bag he thrusted at her. The bag was squirming conspicuously, and Sofia felt her anxiety go through the roof at the thought of the teacher hearing. 

“If you don’t look at it, it’s not a kitten,” she hissed back, putting the bag on the desk in front of her. 

“I wanna play with it,” Josephine whined, and Sofia shrugged. 

“Take the bag to the bathroom I guess?” 

Josephine nodded, took her purse and asked to go to the bathroom. She disappeared throughout the door with an eye roll from the teacher and a slight glare from Paulie.

“Anyways,” she drew out and turned to Paulie, “are you in the market for a cat?” 

“I hate white people more and more everyday,  _ and _ I don’t even have a pen.” Paulie sighed, shook his head, and stole a pen from a group next to them. 

“I did not ask to descend from the colonizers,” Sofia defended and checked to make sure that he wasn’t getting blood on their work, but whatever Cat had done to him had stopped bleeding, and just left his finger swollen and red. 

“Well you didn’t have to look like ‘em.”

“Yes, actually I did,” she said, then looked down at the outline and blurted out before she forgot, “also I’m not doing the powerpoint, I’ll do half the paper.” 

Paulie rolled his eyes, but asked, “First or second?”

“Second,” she said. She wanted to be able to do her work as late as possible, and she’d feel bad if she was late on the first half. He shrugged, and wrote it down. 

“She gonna wanna do the powerpoint?” He asked, scribbling something in heis near unintelligible handwriting onto the paper. 

“Prolly not, but she’s not here,” Paulie shrugged, and they chuckled before marking Josephine down for the powerpoint. 

“How the fuck did you get a cat?” He asked as he finished whatever he was writing. 

“My friend’s mom ain’t want ‘er, too religious for it,” she muttered, glancing over the notes. 

“No good Catholic wants a black cat with green eyes,” Paulie agreed. 

“You got a pit the size of a horse,” she accused, but Paulie just shrugged like she’d expected him to. Her and his family dog had been good friends once upon a time, back when she was dating his littermate and spent time in the Bronx with the family. Now though, she barely talked to Paulie let alone the dog. 

“Wait, aren’t you Pentocostal?” Paulie was not so sneakily snapping pictures of the notes on his phone, and didn’t respond to her other than glancing at her from the corner of his eye. 

“Grab your friend’s bag, bell’s gonna ring.” Paulie said, and passed her the notes he’d been taking. The bell rang just then, and Sofia took Josephine’s bag and went towards the bathroom where she could hear the other omega cooing at the kitten in the far stall. 

She knocked gently on the stall door, and Josephine opened it after a second, and passed Sofia back her purse. Her clothes had cat hair all over them, but she didn’t attempt to brush it off as she went to wash her hands. 

“You know,” Sofia started, “you could ask Alexandria if you could keep ‘er.” 

“Nah, they make Johnny sneeze,” she brushed off, and Sofia cursed internally. She needed to find someone to take the kitten before she went into heat and the Den Alphas would be in and out of her room sporadically. Even worse, there was the chance that Chase would barge into her room unexpectedly even though she’d made sure to clean the day before. 

“So you’re just gonna take my pussy and play with her in the bathroom?” Sofia asked, and shot Josephine a dirty look as the other girl choked on her own spit. 

“Phrasing Sofia, phrasing,” Josephine called out to Sofia’s back. 

The rest of the day passed by quickly, even though she had to stop in the middle of her last period class to feed Cat the rest of the french fries. By some miracle, the kitten didn’t shit or piss inside of her bag. 

Before getting on the train, she went to Pet Smart and brought the smallest kitten safe harness she could find. 

Walking a four week old kitten was possibly the stupidest she’d ever looked, but she felt bad for keeping Cat cooped up in her room and purse this whole time, and from what she knew, small animals needed time to be able to stretch their legs. 

“You’re not a fucking dog,” she muttered under her breath when the kitten stopped to pee against a light pole. The kitten gave her an annoyed look, and a middle aged woman across the street stopped to gape at the sight of them. 

Cat tired herself out after the better part of an hour passed, and stopped as they approached Brooklyn Bridge Park to paw at Sofia’s foot in a silent plea to be picked up. She turned a bit so she could make her way towards the train station, and slipped the kitten back into her purse just as they started heading down the stairs.

It was near five in the evening by the time she made it back to the orphanage, and she slipped the still sleeping kitten back into the box that had become her makeshift bed. 

The kitten opened a bleary eye to glare at her, and she raised an inquisitive eyebrow in return before giving Cat a patronizing pat on the head that sent the kitten back to sleep. 

Dinner that night was some sort of pasta with a clear, buttery sauce that Sofia had grown tired of eating around the time she was ten, so she made herself one of the mac ‘n cheese cups that was in the communal pantry downstairs, and took the first smoothie she found that wasn’t green. She heated it up, sat at her desk, and ate most of the bowl robotically. 

When she finished the bowl, she pulled open her laptop and tried to start on her homework. It was a little early to be doing homework, but she wasn’t excited to see what would happen if she started trying to hack the government on her new computer, so there weren’t many other options for her. 

As per usual, her calculus work was the hardest, and she found herself looking for any possible distraction as she stared at the equation in front of her. 

God seemed to take mercy on her, as her phone started buzzing with an incoming facetime call. She swiped to answer it, and propped the phone against her laptop so she wouldn’t have to hold it. The image of the pack came up on the screen, and she waved at it. 

They’d called her the day before, and Sofia had the slight suspicion that they were going to make a habit of it. She didn’t mind though, the virtual company was more welcome than not. 

_ “Hey Sof,” _ Steve greeted. They were sitting on the same sofa they’d been occupying the day before, only this time Natasha was laid down over Clint and Sam’s legs rather than perched on the back of the sofa. 

_ “What’re we doing?” _ Tony asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs. 

“Uhh, calc. Wanna do it for me?” She asked, half sure he’d say no. 

Tony gave her a dubious look that was answer enough, and she sighed overdramatically. The work wasn’t terribly difficult, just hard to do, and even harder to pay attention to. 

_ “I’ll  _ help _ you with it,”  _ the alpha answered. 

“It’s fine, I’ll just die.” 

_ “You’re not gonna die Sofia,” _ Sam scolded gently. The sound of small paws padding against her hard floor drew her attention from whatever she was going to say next, and Sofia mentally flinched, but didn’t look back, even as Cat clamoured up her leg to sit in her lap. 

If she ignored it, they might too. 

_ “So you  _ do  _ have a cat,” _ Bucky pointed out.

“Nah, issa - uh - a smoothie,” she said, knowing both that she’d been caught and that if Chase heard them arguing it would only get worse. 

They all gave her dubious looks of varying strength, and she bent back over to fill out an answer on her paper. 

_ “Sofia what the fuck?” _ Clint chuckled. 

Sofia mentally wrecked her brain for things to say that would distract them long enough for her to hang up and deal with the conversation later. 

“Uhh, it’s my roommate?” She asked more than said, then rushed out, “She’d really into pet play, okay b-”

_ “Don’t hang up, what’re you doing with a cat?” _ Bruce interrupted, a little incredulous. 

“She’s uhh, in the market for a roommate?” She squeaked out, then after a second of silence said, “Actually, would you happen to know anyone in the market for a responsible, four-ish week old roommate?” 

Natasha shot Tony a look that Sofia hoped meant the redhead wanted the kitten, but neither of them said anything, even as Cat gave the pack a platative  _ meow _ and pawed at the air in front of the screen. 

“Cat is very responsible, ya’ know,” she offered, only for Thor to give her a confused look and Bucky bark out a laugh. 

_ “You named the kitten Cat?” _

“She didn’t come prepackaged with a name man.”

Bucky rolled his eyes, and she went back to her homework. Every now and then, she’d look up and take part in the conversation, but for the most part she was comforted enough by letting it happen around her. 

She was broken from her slight reverie when Natasha said,  _ “Your heat’s due soon right?” _

The question was one she’d been hoping to avoid. It wasn’t often that she talked about her heat with anyone, let alone alphas, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. 

So, rather than say anything, she shrugged and rewrote the formula she was looking at. 

_ “Do you know the exact date?” _ Natasha asked again, her tone oddly soothing. 

“Uh, not really, schedule’s wack so just know ‘s next week.” She mumbled, then said, “Sorry,” when none of them said anything. She stroked Cat with her left hand, and stared at the problem she’d been on, not intent on doing anything anymore. 

_ “Don’t be sorry,”  _ Bucky soothed in that voice he’d used when she was dropping not too long ago. 

“Okay,” she mumbled more than said, “take the nuller thingy Thursday though, so might hit over the weekend.” 

Spring break started officially Wednesday, when she had to wear her full uniform and go to mass. 

That day, she was supposed to get out of school around ten in the morning, and the next day she had a doctor’s appointment to reassure the state that she was a virgin, along with a shot that would flush the last of the behavioral suppressant shot she took in January out of her system. Since she’d be turning eighteen later in the month, she’d also be examined by a specialist to get a guess at how many pups she’d have during both a heat cycle and a beta cycle. 

She wasn’t exactly looking forward to Thursday. 

_ “How long do you usually last after the shot sweet pea?” _ Sam asked her gently. 

“Day or two, maybe three,” she guessed. Her schedule was terrible to the point where she was lucky she could determine whether her heat would hit in the first or second half of the month most times, so it was all she was able to do. 

_ “Is there anything we could get you?”  _ Tony asked, and Sofia blushed, knowing he was giving her room to ask about anything from nesting materials to whatever else she could come up with. Having their clothes in her nest while she was heated up would most definitely be a way to ensure her hindbrain bonding to them further, and could also help to shorten her heat, but that didn’t make the process of asking any less embarrassing. 

Most of the time she took someone’s clothes for nesting material, she quite literally took the clothes from the person and had never actually asked before.

Sofia knew what she’d wind up asking for, but still didn’t want to say it. 

To ask for clothing for nesting purposes was laden with thousands of years worth of tradition, and even more eons worth of instinct, but to ask for blankets and pillows though was seen as something impersonal and clinical, or even familial, so she couldn’t do that. 

Even if she didn’t  _ want _ to ask for clothes, there was the strong possibility that the blankets or pillows they gave her weren’t as strongly imbued with their scents as their clothing. 

“Clothes?” She squeaked out, her cheeks flushing with color. 

_ “Pretty vague request doll,”  _ Bucky pointed out. 

“Not pants,” she clarified but didn’t evaluate anymore. On the other end, someone made a low hum in the back of their throat that she ignored in favor of taking a sip from her smoothie. 

The smoothie was absolutely disgusting, to the point where her stomach as well as tastebuds protested so violently she just barely stopped herself from throwing it up. 

_ “Sofia please don’t vomit on your calculus homework.” _

“I’m gonna die, holy fucking shit this is the end that was gross,” Sofia gasped out, and nearly dropped the smoothie onto her desk. On her screen, Tony was laughing at her, while the others were giving her speculative looks. 

_ “What was it?”  _ Bucky asked, tone vaguely amused and a little indulgent. 

“Banana and death,” Sofia muttered, and stuffed half a pack of gum into her mouth, before spitting out, “banana,” with as much distaste as she could muster. 

_ “I love bananas,” _ Clint protested, and Sofia held a hand up towards the screen while she came up with her answer, “I do too, don’t get me wrong, but bananas are meant to be eaten whole or in bread and sometimes Snapple,  _ not  _ smoothies, absolutely not.” 

Bucky rolled his eyes fondly, and Sam said something a little sarcastically, but Sofia didn’t pay them any mind. After all, her homework wasn’t going to finish itself and it wasn’t like any of them were going to do it for her. 

~~~~

Sofia woke up Tuesday morning to Cat sitting on her forehead, and sharp little claws dug into her favorite pillow. She glared at the kitten, and got ready for the day. 

The day passed similarly to the day before, filled with explanations of the break homework combined with free time they were supposed to use to start the work. 

Naturally, Sofia didn’t do much more than stare blankly between the wall, the window, and her phone. After yesterday, Cat had gotten herself somewhat used to what would be their new routine for that day and the next, and wound up sleeping most of the day. 

Like the day before, when the day ended she walked a bit away from the school building before setting the kitten on the ground and attaching the leash to her. 

Together, they walked towards Brooklyn Bridge Park, and made it to the side of the park opposite from where they’d entered before the kitten refused to go any further and peutantly sat down on the pavement. 

She picked the kitten up, and put her back into her purse before heading towards the train station that she’d taken the train from the day before. With the new route, she had to take two trains to get back to the orphanage, and more stairs than she thought necessary but she still made it back in less than a half an hour. There wasn’t any homework that needed her immediate attention, so she went down to the cafeteria to get herself a plate of the chicken nuggets and french fries that was being served. 

She took a pink smoothie this time, and ate in her room rather than downstairs with a few of the others. 

As she sat down against the wall on her bed, she pulled out her laptop and opened up Netflix. 

Periodically, she fed Cat some french fries and bits of chicken, and around halfway through her dinner, the top right corner of the laptop screen showed an incoming facetime call just as her phone buzzed beside her. 

She answered the facetime call without checking who it was, pretty sure that it would be another call from the pack like the night before. Instead, it was a call from Tony. 

From what she could see, it looked like he was sitting in some sort of work room and tinkering with a small, oddly shaped piece of metal. 

_ “Hey, you still got that cat?”  _ He asked, words muffled by the flashlight he was holding in his mouth. 

Sofia caught his eye, looked at Cat, and looked back at Tony. 

_ “Point taken, uhh you promised her to anyone yet?”  _ With the flashlight in his mouth, she could barely make out what he was saying, and so it took her a second before she was able to answer. 

“Nope, was thinking of skinning her and using her fur as a small rug.”

Her sarcasm earned her an unimpressed look from the alpha, but when she took a second look at the screen, her eyes were drawn to his arms. He had on a white wife beater with stains all over it, and the shirt’s sleeveless cut showed casually muscled arms.

Sofia carefully looked back down at Cat rather than stare at his arms. 

_ “You opposed to living with her long term?”  _ He asked, set the thing he was fiddling with down on what looked to be a carefully cluttered table, only to pull the flashlight from his mouth and grab something else. 

A little confused by his words, she asked “You want me to keep ‘er?” 

_ “Nah, well kinda,” _ he said, fiddled with something, then looked back at her,  _ “Tasha wants a cat, and she’s gonna take care of the thing.” _

Sofia shrugged, she didn’t really mind staying with Cat long term, and if she was being honest the idea of separating with the kitten had bothered her more than she’d like to admit. Over the course of the past few days, between sneaking food to Cat through an opening in her purse and crossing her fingers she wouldn’t shit or pee in her bag, she’d grown attached to the small pest. 

She also not so secretly enjoyed the dubious looks she got whenever she walked Cat outside on a leash. 

“When do you want me to give it to ‘er?” 

Tony paused his movements, looked up at Sofia, then looked back towards whatever he was working on. 

_ “Well, she doesn’t know she’s getting it.”  _

Sofia responded by saying “Aww, that’s so cute,” even as she batted away the kitten who’d taken to nibbling at her fingers a bit too harshly. 

He rolled his eyes at her again, and said,  _ “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” _

“Oh, and she doesn’t know how to use kitty litter,” she offered after a brief second of silence. 

_ “What kind of cat can’t use kitty litter?” _

“She’s not like other cats.” Sofia said, a little defensively and made sure to give Cat an extra special head scratch. 

At the dubious look Tony shot her, she shrugged and said, “Her body different Tony.”

_ “Sofia no,” _ he grunted out, and she pointed an accusatory finger at him and shot back, “Sofia yes.”

“Anyways,” Sofia said with a roll of her eyes, “she prefers the light pole thingy on Jay Street, right before you’re under the bridge, and wee-wee pads.” 

_ “Let me find Tasha a cat that isn’t broken,” _ Tony said, gave her an unreadable look, and fiddled with something on the table. 

“My cat’s not broken, she’s just unique Tony, stop bullying her.” She said, then had to push the kitten from her lap to avoid getting bitten. 

“Okay maybe she’s broken but I’ll just shake her and see what happens.”   
  


_ “Sofia absolutely not,” _ Tony said, and even went as far as to put down whatever he was holding to point an accusatory finger at her. 

_ “We do not tolerate animal cruelty,” _ he said, looking amusingly serious, and she suppressed a chuckle in order to look properly contrite. 

“Of course, my apologies,” she said, then made sure to tilt her chin down a bit and look up at him through her lashes the way she had what felt like ages ago and mumble out, “alpha.”

Tony didn’t have the reaction she thought he would, but if the way his pupils contracted was any indication, he was just as affected as he had been the first time she’d said that to him. 

Still, they maintained eye contact over the screen for longer than she would have liked until she pretended to glance down at Cat, who was occupying herself with the string from Sofia’s backpack. 

_ “Twenty-one days, Ms. Minor,”  _ Tony said in a singsong voice, and pointedly looked back down to his work. 

Sofia felt her brows furrow without meaning to, and for a second she nearly asked aloud as to what was supposed to happen in twenty-one days before her cheeks flushed and she nearly dropped her own jaw in surprise. 

In twenty-one days, she’d turn eighteen. Even so, the mating contract they’d drawn up had written out explicitly that she wouldn’t move in with them until the weekend after her birthday, so she said, “Last I checked I had until the first.” 

Tony arched a brow at her, as if to remind her how it wasn’t that long ago that she was dismissing her own age to get into their pants, and the blush that burned its way across her face must have been answer enough since he didn’t say anything further. 

_ “If I really wanted, you’d only have to wait ‘til your heat hit,”  _ he said, and while part of Sofia was more excited than not at the idea of not having to wait until after her birthday, “That’s, exceedingly morally grey.”

Bribing the state wasn’t unheard of, and  _ shit _ , R Kelly had gotten away with it, so she knew it was possible, but the thought of mating someone that would bribe the state in order to have sex with a minor-  _ “Just offering sweet cheeks.” _

Sofia really hated herself for not having realized he was kidding, and all she was able to muster was an eyeroll. 

There were a few seconds of comfortable silence between them before she saw Tony turn his head to the side and say,  _ “Oh hey Pete, your stuff’s where you left it, your wap from yesterday was great just-” _

_ “What do you mean my  _ wap _ , I- Mr. Stark I’m a  _ minor  _ and you’re a mate-” _

Sofia quickly hung up the facetime call just, uncontrollable laughter falling from her lips and Tony’s wide confused eye’s staring at her. 

“Cat I mighta fucked up,” she told the kitten who wasn’t paying any attention to her whatsoever. 

Another call came up on her screen before she finished laughing, but this time she wasn’t able to decline it and the image of a blushing Peter and a slightly frantic looking Tony came up on her screen. 

_ “Sofia Anne,” _ he said slowly, then pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed roughly through it. 

_ “Please tell me why you thought it was a good idea to tell me that wap was work and progress when it was in fact  _ wet ass pussy _ , just uhh, asking for a friend.”  _

“Well,” Sofia said, the single syllable word broken up by her laughter,  _ “-Well nothing Sofia I used it in a board meeting.” _

She laughed so hard she nearly shrieked, and sputtered out, “Y-you said wap to a bunch of old ass men? Tony  _ no _ .” 

_ “Sofia there was an intern there, he-” _

“Oh my God Tony, he understood everything,” she gasped out, not regretting the split second decision she’d made to lie to him at all. 

_ “He was absolutely mortified Sofia, he almost died of second hand embarrassment.” _

_ “Peter’s gonna die of second hand embarrassment,” _ the pup volunteered, face as red as a fire truck reflecting the light in the summer, and Sofia did her best to stop laughing. 

“Tony don’t kill ‘im, he’s useful.”

_ “Yes, useful, I- I can be very useful Mr. Stark, I would just like to go work please and thank you,” _ Peter rushed out, pulling away from Tony’s side only for the elder alpha to grab onto what was left of the pup’s scruff. 

Puberty took care of everyone’s scruff aside from omegas’, and after an alpha’s first rut or a beta female’s first period, it would just near seamlessly turn into a flat expanse of skin. She wasn’t entirely sure how it happened for beta males, but she was pretty sure the process just happened. 

Sofia raised an eyebrow towards Tony and said, “Just let the pup go man, he’s gonna overheat.” 

Tony shot her a look she couldn’t quite decipher, but not so gently pushed Peter away. The pup scrambled off of her screen and she heard him pick something up and start fiddling with it. 

Sofia sighed obnoxiously, and said pityingly, “Poor pup.”

  
Tony snorted, picked that weird looking piece of metal up again and muttered,  _ “Poor Tony.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as always I'm all open to any suggestions or ideas you've got for this story, and I would love to hear what you think, but I've got some shitty news for you guys. 
> 
> I know around now, everyone's putting this down in the notes, and I promise, I know it sucks to hear(read?), but school's starting up and I'm not sure how my already wacky posting schedule's gonna get. 
> 
> On the bright side, I have so much planned for this story it'll be impossible for me to abandon, and next chapter Natasha gets a cat.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/8/2020

“Dayja, just pull damn it,” Sofia wheezed out, her hands braced against the dresser. Behind her, Dayja grunted something out that she couldn’t understand, and pulled the strings of the corset tighter until Sofia could barely breathe. 

“Okay, okay that’s it I don’t need it that tight.” 

“You just told me to pull you fuck, now you don’t get to breathe,” Dayja gasped out a bit, then gave a stronger tug on the strings of the corset that had Sofia’s lower body sticking out in an attempt to rebalance herself. 

“That was so unnecessary I absolutely detest you,” Sofia wheezed out, and jerked away once Dayja had finished tying the strings of the corset. 

“Put your fucking clothes on Sofia, you’re gonna make us both late,” Dayja grumbled, and Sofia turned so that she was facing Dayja and helped the other omega fasten the metal and leather chastity belt around her hips. 

“Thank God I didn’t go to St. Saviour’s,” she muttered, and ignored the dirty look her friend shot her. Once the belt was secured, Dayja pulled on her own corset and turned so that Sofia could fasten it for her. 

Both of their schools required full uniform that day, the only difference being that while both omegas needed button down shirts and vests rather than their usual polo shirts, heels rather than flats or sneakers, and corsets underneath it all, Dayja’s school still required the omegas to wear a chastity belt. Years ago, when she was choosing high schools, it had been one of the deciding factors for Sofia aside from the fact that her school was further from the orphanage. Of course, both schools had offered her a scholarship, and Dayja’s school had an arguably better curriculum, but Sofia was far from interested in the rigidity that St. Saviour’s insisted on. 

She pulled the strings as tightly as she could without making the corset overly tight, and when she was done, Dayja left her room with a nod of thanks. 

Once the door closed behind her, Sofia pulled on the shorts she usually wore under her skirt, then carefully pulled on the white button down shirt that she hated to wear. She left the top two buttons undone, and mentally told herself to remember to fasten them before she got into the school building. Next, she stepped into her black ballet flats, put her black heels into her purse, then carefully put Cat into her purse, on the other side of her heels, and next to her jeans. 

The kitten gave her a protesting yowl but didn’t try to escape like she’d done the day before. 

“I’m real sorry Cat, gonna take you to a park or something later, maybe let you run on the fake grass by my school. You up for that baby?” She asked the kitten and gave the small creature a scratch on the head that she hoped was comforting. 

She pulled on the hideous vest, and carefully swung her purse over her shoulder, “Thinking chopped cheese maybe? Or maybe pancakes, a thingy from McDonald’s? Might not have time for that though,” she mused and started walking towards the elevator. 

Her hair wasn’t as straight as regulation would have wanted it to be, but even waking up as early as possible she’d barely had much time to straighten it and do her makeup. 

“I think there’s bacon downstairs I could get you, and I could always eat a banana or after school, but I’m not really hungry.” She said to herself more than the kitten and left the room. 

On her way out of the orphanage, she stopped to grab a few pieces of bacon for Cat, and a bottle of water for herself. She didn’t sit on the train, not that there were seats, and was off of the train soon. 

Standing near her homeroom teacher’s desk was an old nun, most likely older than Betty White. The Sister was talking to her homeroom teacher and giving each of the omegas a critical look. 

Her homeroom teacher nodded at her sharply, and Sofia nodded in response, then set her purse down on a chair that she made sure to push in so that Cat wouldn’t jump out. A not too subtle hip bump from one of her classmates got her to button the top two buttons on her shirt, and she put her heels on as subtly as possible. 

Sister Gertrude was a thin and frail woman that was anything but that. Though years ago the state had started to regulate corporal punishments in schools, Sister Gertrude hadn't gotten the memo, with a cain thick enough that schools in the eighteen hundreds would have been hesitant to allow and a mean swing to back up the threat. It was the cane that drew Sofia’s eye as she approached the nun, and the frighteningly thick cane that tapped at the ground in a silent warning to stop getting closer to the Sister. 

Obligingly, Sofia stopped walking, and felt the cane prod at her toes, then lightly tap her sides to check for the corset, and finally lift pieces of Sofia’s hair on each side to get a better look at her collar. 

Sofia had long gotten used to it over the past few years, but had never quite come to terms with the objectifying way she was inspected. Even worse, it was as if Sister Gertrude hated her, and wasn’t afraid to let her know it. All she could hope for was that the nun wasn’t annoyed enough that she would make her unbutton her shirt to  _ properly _ check the corset. 

So much for Christain values. 

“I see you’ve finally been promised, number?” The nun trailed off, and Sofia’s cheeks flushed but she still answered, “Eight-five-three-one-five-nine, Sister.”

The bitter, old nun made a humming noise in the back of her throat and said, “Very well then, be sure to straighten out that vest and next time think more business appropriate when you do your makeup, okay? This is a Catholic school, not some street corner.” 

Sofia flushed again, but still nodded, and rushed to sign in on the sheet as soon as she was allowed to leave. She went into the locker room to stuff her flats inside and then sat at the desk where she had put her bag and carefully fed Cat pieces of the bacon she had grabbed earlier. 

Cat fell asleep soon after she finished the last pieces of bacon. Sofia had expected it, but was still grateful nonetheless. When the bell rang signaling for them to start leaving for church though, the kitten startled in her sleep, and Sister Gertrude stood in the doorway of the classroom to shout, “Remember ladies and omegas, this is Easter Mass, the church doors will be opened to the congregation and you are not to embarrass us as a school.” 

She barely suppressed an eye roll while she slid her chair out and got into line, but managed to do so. Sister Gertrude got into the elevator with her homeroom teacher and an omega boy that had been on crutches the past few weeks. 

Sofia took the stairs quickly, not wanting to annoy the beta girl behind her, and before long was met with the near cold morning air. The church was less than a block away, only across the street and around a corner, but she found herself wishing the walk was longer. 

For the duration of mass, Sofia was fairly sure she was either sleeping with her eyes open or dissociating, but from her seat roughly in the middle of the pews, she knew no one would notice, so she just clutched her purse tightly between her ankles, and got up to let the Catholics through for communion when the time came. By the time that happened, she was so over the constant sit and stand routine that she nearly walked out of the church. 

Unironically, she blamed the mass’ timely end on the grace of God, and shuffled out of the church, towards the school building. 

“Umm, excuse me? You’re not allowed up,” one of the security guards said to her as she started for the staircase. The school building was close enough to the church that it was less than a block, and she’d arrived there quickly. 

“Oh, I just need something from my locker,” she explained and tried to sidestep the beta woman. 

“No, no one’s allowed up right now, there’s a meeting going on.” 

“On  _ all _ of the floors?” Sofia asked, tone a little incredulous, then said in a hopefully placating voice, “Look I just need a book for a break project, I’ll be less than five minutes up and down.” 

She didn’t actually need a book, but she’d rather shoot herself in the clit than go home in heels. 

“Sorry honey, gonna have to ask a friend for help.” 

Sofia blinked slowly, nodded, and spun on her heel to leave the building. To her surprise, standing outside were Rose, Lisa, and even more surprisingly, Kiara. 

“Hey, someone wasn’t answering their phone,” Rose said accusingly and swung an arm around Sofia’s shoulders to direct her towards Jay street. 

They made to stop at a pizza place, and they all gave in two dollars for a pie. 

“I was busy being with God fucko,” Sofia said while they waited. 

“Surprised it didn’t blow up with your gay ass in there,” Lisa snorted, but only for Kiara, who was boldly palming Rose’s ass to look at her with a fake confused set of her eyes.

“You do realize you're surrounded by homosexuals right,” Kiara said, then threw her head back to half shout, “Fucking straggots.” 

“Straight bastards,” she agreed, and nudged for Lisa to take hold of the box once the man behind the counter held it out. She didn’t know where they were going, but assumed that their end goal was Brooklyn Bridge Park, or even Governor’s Island if it was open yet, which was at least a half hour to an hour’s walk. 

The bus would be faster, but they could never remember which side to get on and more often than not wound up lost, so they never really did it unless they were tired. 

“You do know you’re in a straight relationship right?” Rose asked her, and Sofia sighed, but shrugged, “I’m never gonna eat pussy again.” 

“You’re marrying the avengers I think you’ll do fine without pussy.”

“I’m only marrying one of them,” Sofia retorted, even though in marrying Tony, she’d essentially be marrying the pack as a whole. Then, she muttered, “Fucking betas.”

“I just want you to know that my feelings are very hurt,” Lisa said to her, even though she reached to link their arms. Lisa’d passed the pizza box to either Kiara or Rose at some point, though Sofia’s bets were on Kiara since Rose was loathed to hold anything if it wasn’t a life or death situation. 

“Ahh yes, a straight, white, beta woman in America. Tell me, what’s it like to vote?” Sofia said sarcastically, then gestured for them to stop walking so she could reach into her purse and clip the leash to Cat’s collar so the kitten could walk. Lisa, while hispanic, was whiter than Sofia and had come to terms with it long before the two had met. 

“It’s actually a very boring experience, what’s it like to have heat in the winter?” Lisa said while she bent down to scratch Cat’s head. 

But, Cat hadn’t had many experiences with people other than Sofia, and was probably not accustomed to a beta’s scent so close to her, so turned to hiss and bit Lisa hard. 

Lisa turned her shocked and betrayed eyes onto Sofia who shrugged, “If it was anyone else I’d smack ‘er but you deserved it, and I didn’t have heat ‘til New Years’ bitch,” which was true. The orphanage hadn’t had heat for most of the winter, but all of the omegas had gotten extra blankets and space heaters so ACS hadn’t complained. 

Sofia was pretty sure that none of them used the space heaters since the air they emitted smelled horrible and made their chests hurt, but if she pretended it was fine then it was. If anything, she’d spent most of her time that winter at Lisa’s house despite the commute, so she hadn’t noticed much. 

“I don’t deserve shit,” Lisa said, not responding to the entirety of what Sofia had said and stomped off to wedge herself between Rose and Kiara. 

Kiara narrowed her eyes at Lisa. They had always gotten along well, but Sofia knew that it was only because they both willfully ignored their dislike for the other. It was only a matter of time before one cut the other off or it came to blows. 

Kiara turned and walked back towards Sofia who was a few feet behind where Lisa had made her home glued to Rose’s side. 

“I need to get out of this skirt,” Sofia said, pointedly ignoring the look Kiara gave her. If the other girl had something to say about Lisa, she could wait until the eldest had left. 

“You can change under the highway,” Kiara said after a tense second, then reached out for Cat’s leash, having maneuvered the pizza box so she could hold it in one arm. Sofia let her take it, but only because the kitten was moving at a glacial rate. 

“Pretty sure it’s a bridge.” 

“Pretty sure no one cares,” Kiara said, and Sofia rolled her eyes. The mentioned overpass was a block or two ahead, and when Rose and Lisa got there ahead of them, Kiara called out for them to stop walking. 

Rose shot her a look, as if to say  _ get Lisa off of me so I can grope Kiara _ , and Sofia walked ahead of Kiara so that she could get closer to them. 

“Take this,” she said, and pulled her purse off of her shoulder. She went closer to the wall and mentally crossed her fingers in hope that no cars would drive by. Her shorts and knee highs were easy to pull off without rustling her skirt too much, and Rose pulled out her jeans for her. 

To pull the jeans on under her skirt, she had to rest her bare feet on the dirty concrete sidewalk for a second, but managed to get the denim around her ankles without toppling over. Pulling it over her hips was a bit more of a struggle, but she managed and pulled off her skirt so that Rose could fold it and put it in her bag for her. 

She could unfasten the corset by herself, and reached under her shirt to do so. Rose put that in her bag for her too, and they nodded at each other before they started walking towards the park. 

“You don’t have shoes?” Rose asked, and Sofia shrugged. Surprisingly, Rose didn’t make her take her purse back, and they made the rest of the walk in a comfortable near silence. 

Once they got to the park, Cat was predictably tired, and she picked the kitten up and held her in her arms as they went towards their usual spot on the grass near the far end of the park. 

Kiara pulled a blanket out of the bag on Rose’s back and the two of them set it down, then used the backpack to weigh down Cat’s leash so the kitten wouldn’t be able to run away easily. 

Cat made herself comfortable on the blanket, and laid down for a short nap. Lisa put the pizza box down in the middle and they all took off their shoes so they could get comfortable. Sofia picked around at a slice, but still wasn’t too hungry, and wound up giving the remainder to Rose. 

“You needa eat,” Lisa said, reaching for her second slice. 

“Nah, not hungry.” Sofia said, typing up a response on her phone to Sam. 

“That time again?” Rose asked, one hand scratching at Cat’s head, and the other offering a pizza crust to Kiara. 

Sofia shrugged halfheartedly, knowing Rose was right. Whenever her preheat started up and brought near insane cravings with it, her behavioral suppressants kicked in as well and crushed her normal appetite alongside with whatever cravings she may have had. Later in the day it would probably suppress most of her instinctual responses, emotional or otherwise since those were also amplified by heat. 

The thought had briefly passed through her mind that morning, but she was too busy rushing to pay it much attention. She’d probably get a headache sometime that day, but there was almost always a bland soup at the orphanage that she could eat. 

Rose pulled a speaker out of her bag and put something on. It was fast beat, and calming enough that Sofia was able to lay down on the blanket with her head on Rose’s stomach. She laid her phone on her own stomach, and closed her eyes when Rose started to scratch her head rhythmically. 

Someone pressed something plastic to her lips, and unthinkingly, she parted them. 

It wasn’t a puff bar, that much she could tell from the shape, but she took a pull of the smoke into her mouth, opened her mouth after a few seconds, then pulled the smoke back into her lungs. 

“This the six,” she commented. Usually her friends stuck to a form of vape with a lower concentration of nicotine, and after this long, she could feel the difference. 

“Five, he didn’t have the three,” Rose said, which explained enough since the beta had a strange distaste for the number five. 

“I should go get dick,” Lisa commented, and Sofia mentally scrunched her nose in distaste. In spite of her earlier joke, she didn’t really have much of a sex drive now that she thought of it. 

She could go for a nap though, right here with her head on Rose and the music in her ear. Cat had cozied up to her side, and she reached a hand to scratch her side gently. 

Rose pressed the vape back to her lips, and it was sticky with lip gloss, but she wrapped her lips around it anyways. Sofia had high enough of a nicotine tolerance that it took more than a few moore pulls for her mood to brighten up. 

“One day we’ll get you a tolerance,” Rose said to her, tapping pointedly at her head so Sofia was sure it was directed at her. 

Everyone looked pointedly at Rose now, knowing that the beta could go through a carton of cigarettes in a day or two if she set her mind to it. 

“You have so many addictions that I’ve lost count.” Sofia said, then picked up her phone that was buzzing against where she’d set it to rest on her hip. 

“I wear them proudly Sofia Anne.” 

She sat up so she could read her phone easier, and her stomach sank at what she saw. 

_ Clint: hey in bklyn w/ tash want 2 meet up _

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see them, she did, she  _ really  _ did. It was just that she probably smelled like the smoke from the vape, and getting it out of her hair thoroughly enough that a trained alpha nose would miss it could only be done through washing it. 

_ Sofia: Sure, I’m in brooklyn bridge park lemme know when you’re close so I can meet you outside  _

Clint responded to her quickly even as she ran a mental inventory of her purse that came up empty for any sort of perfume. 

_ Clint: no probz c u in a hr ish _

Sofia responded, more than a little relieved even though rationally, she knew she’d probably have more of the vape before they got there. 

“What?” 

“They wanna pick me up,” Sofia said to Rose, then plunked back down since she didn’t need to start packing up just yet. 

“Oh fancy,” Kiara muttered, half asleep with her face buried in Cat’s side. Sofia shrugged, and laid back down on Rose. 

She took whatever it was that they’d been vaping from, and put it to her lips. The smoke was thick and not her preference, but she took it anyways. 

“Hey,” Lisa piped up. 

“Sofia,” she said when no one answered, prompting an inquiring hum from the omega, “did you ever post that video?” 

“What vid?” 

“The TikTok of you and the girl,” Lisa prompted, but Sofia still wasn’t sure what she was talking about. 

“What TikTok? I don’t post there?” 

“You know the TikTok, the one with you- what’s it in English? Ugh lemme find it.” 

Lisa looked back down towards her phone and started typing something in it while Sofia stared up at the sky idly. 

“Here,” Lisa shoved the phone into her face, just close enough that Sofia had to blink in order to see properly. Some song was playing in the background, and the image of her floating head was in front of something, blocking everything aside from a knee and her head bobbing up and down on what she could only guess was a blood red, silicone dildo. 

“Oh shit,” she muttered, grabbed the phone, and sat up in one move. 

“I- I sent that to you?” 

“Yeah, the other day I say post it ‘cause isn’t it a trend right now? You’ll probably get a few views, it's cute.” Lisa said, and Rose was making inquisitive noises as to what they were talking about. She gave her the phone tentatively, unsure as to how Rose would react. 

Predictably, Rose gasped overdramatically and threw the phone down onto the blanket. 

“I am horrified, I never wanted to see that, but also whose dick is that?” 

“Is that that guy’s sister? Sofia did you really save that video?” Kiara asked boredom in her voice, still looking at her phone. 

“I put it in my my eyes only, I don’t know when I put it in a TikTok,” Sofia said defensively, contemplating on whether she should post it or not. It was funny sure, but she didn’t want to risk the pack seeing it and feeling some type of way. 

“Post it man, what’s the worst that’ll happen,” Kiara said, still not paying them much attention. Sofia chewed on the inside of her cheek until she drew a little bit of blood, then shrugged, “Send it back to me I’ll post it.” 

Lisa sent it back to her, and she posted it. There wasn’t much of a chance that people would see it, she had probably five or six followers so it didn’t really matter. 

“How much of that did you even get?” Rose asked, still staring at the phone in thinly veiled disgust. 

“Uhh halfish?” She asked more than said. That night wasn’t exactly a blur, but she didn’t remember the entirety of it. She’d made her decision and texted Penelope in the middle of the night, less than a week after she found out that Peter had cheated on her with his best friend. 

Sofia had posted the video on SnapChat, tears running down her cheeks all the while, but she hadn’t regretted her decision as much as she’d expected to. Especially not because the only reason she found out that Peter had cheated on her was when he posted a video of him having sex with someone else. 

The only person she felt bad for was Paulie, who’d been an innocent bystander in the mess she and his siblings had created throughout both her school and Westinghouse. 

“It hurt though.” 

“A lot?” Rose was idly playing with the vape, twirling it on the blanket covered grass as much as she could. 

“I cried cause like,” she stumbled over her words for a second before settling on something, “it’s the same size as some of my stuff but I don’t really use stuff like that regular.” 

“Oh, okay,” Rose passed her the vape, and she took a few pulls, eyes closing slightly. She could smell the fresh air and her friends, and two of her alphas were coming to see her. Life wasn’t perfect, far from it in fact, but she could rest her head on Rose and close her eyes for now. 

“Gonna wake you up soon, don’t wanna send you to ‘em without food.” Sofia hummed, swung a leg over Rose’s, an arm around the beta’s hip, and her face into her navel. 

She was asleep almost as soon as Rose reached down to scratch her head, and didn’t wake up until Lisa hit her side hard enough to sting. 

“Leave me alone you cocksucking whore,” she muttered, trying to get closer into the body pressed up against hers. From the scent alone, she could tell it wasn’t Rose but rather, Kiara. They didn’t share a space often, but the beta’s scent was sweet, soft, and something she’d come to enjoy over these past few years. 

Then, a second, deeper breath filled her lungs with the scent of something headier and thicker than Kiara’s sweet beta scent. She hummed, trying to take in more of it, but quickly realized that it was an alpha’s scent, not the beta scent she’d fallen asleep surrounded by. 

“Oh shit,” she quickly disentangled herself from Kiara, and looked up at Clint and Natasha who were talking with Lisa, the only extrovert of the group. Rose was half hidden behind Lisa and looked like she was about to shit her pants, and Sofia mentally slapped herself. Rose was weary of alphas on a good day, and absolutely terrified of them on a bad one. It was part of the reason that she’d gone to an all carriers school. 

“I’m so sorry,  _ shit, _ ” she sat up fully, still muttering curses under her breath. 

“Hello to you too,” Natasha commented, tone overly sweet and a little amused. 

Sofia stood clumsily, brushed some hair from her face, and blinked up at Clint and Natasha, “Hi.” 

“Hey Sofia,” Clint greeted, and she felt a shiver go through her when her body properly registered the scent of the two alphas. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mea-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Natasha soothed, and Clint picked up, “Your friends were just telling us about that time you spent the weekend in Sunset Park.” 

Sofia blinked, going through her still half asleep brain for whatever they could have been told, looked at Rose who was shooting her a wide eyed stare, then back at Clint, “No they didn’t.” 

“A lotta trust to put in them,” Clint said, brow half cocked. 

“They weren’t telling us anything, you have good friends. Leave her be Clint.” 

Sofia looked between the two alphas, then at the two of her friends that were awake. Cat was nowhere in sight, but no one was freaking out so she guessed they’d put her back in the purse that was conveniently just behind Lisa’s feet. 

She stepped into the shoes that were also conveniently placed closer to her than they were when she’d fallen asleep earlier, all the while pretending that she didn’t notice Clint unabashedly watching her feet. 

Rose passed Sofia her purse before hugging and kissing her goodbye on the cheek with a quiet farewell muttered in her ear, and Lisa gave her a chaste half hug. 

“Here,” she said to Natasha, holding her purse out, “hold this for me.” 

“No.” 

“Yes,” Sofia persisted, and Natasha narrowed her eyes but gave in. The alpha’s eyes widened a bit when she felt the strangely distributed weight of the purse, but she didn’t say anything or open the bag. 

“Such high maintenance,” Clint held a hand out to her despite his comment, and she slipped her hand into his so that she could be led out of the grassy area and towards the concrete. 

“Let’s get you fed,” he said, only for Sofia to mentally run through a list of what could possibly happen. Refusing food from an alpha was  _ really _ rude, but she wasn’t hungry in the slightest. 

“I’m okay,” she settled on. It wasn’t quite a refusal, but still a no. Over her head, she could see him exchange a look with Natasha. 

“Sofia, for an omega your height, you’re underweight.” 

Sofia looked at Clint incredulously, not so much confused as to what she’d said, but more than a little annoyed by it, “I’m fine.” 

Neither of them said anything, but they gave each other a look over her head again, and she let them walk in silence before she noticed how her bag had started moving. 

Natasha looked at her with a glance that wordlessly asked if she was going to explain herself, so Sofia shrugged, “Open it, it's yours, well not the bag cause my clothes are in there, but yeah.” 

“Huh, the cat’s literally out the bag,” Clint said when Natasha stopped just by the entrance to the park, expression skeptical and weary, to slide the bag off of her shoulder and pull Cat from the bag. 

Two sets of green eyes locked on each other in a silent battle of wills while Natasha held Cat at an awkward angle. 

“I do not tolerate messes, you will have to keep after yourself and sign a contract that says you understand your responsibility to do so.” Sofia looked towards Clint when the slightly ridiculous sentence registered, but the blond just shrugged. To her surprise, Cat nodded. It was just a shallow dip of the chin, and a gesture far too human for a kitten but a nod nonetheless. 

“What’s her name?” Natasha asked as she gave the kitten a gentle scratch on the head and gently put her back in the purse. 

“Cat.” 

“You named your cat Cat?” 

“Well she wasn’t prepackaged with a name Nat.” Sofia shot back, amusement making her eyes glint. 

“How’d you get her?” Clint asked as he started walking again, eyes taking in the less populated part of Atlantic Avenue that not many people remembered was there. 

“My friend’s mom didn’t want ‘er, said she’s evil.” 

“I’ll name her Liho then,” Natasha said. Clint rolled his eyes, but Sofia guessed it was in a different language, or just an odd pronunciation for Lilo, so she didn’t say anything. 

“Let’s get some meat into you, you think she’ll stay in the bag or should we drop her off in the car?” Clint asked, tightening his hand around hers for a second that ended too quickly. Sofia wanted to argue, but the part of her that hadn’t yet been stamped down by the suppressant roared in triumph at the idea of being given food by an alpha. 

“Think Lisa gave her some pizza crust, so she might knock out soon but she won’t sleep that long.” 

Natasha gave a contemplative hum somewhere in the back of her throat that sounded more like a growl, “There’s a restaurant on Atlantic with tables set out in front already.” 

“Good,” Clint said, saying something to Natasha with a look in his eyes that Sofia couldn’t decipher, then looked at Sofia with a softness in his eyes that felt too intimate for such a public setting, “we need to get some meat into you, you’ll need the protein.” 

Sofia blushed at the blatant reminder of her heat, but still walked between the two alphas towards the restaurant. She’d eat what they ordered for her, but she knew that they wouldn’t really mind even if she didn’t. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back bitches. Also college is....odd. Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter out quickly, but I do have the chapter after that written already so once the next one is out the one after that will come super quick.   
> As always let me know what you think, any suggestions or ideas are super welcome.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/9/2020

When Sofia realized what day it was, she had to harden her resolve for getting out of bed more than usual. It wasn’t for any particular reason, but she was so absolutely terrified of what was supposed to happen at the doctor’s office that she nearly didn’t go. 

Still, it was either she went to the doctor, or one of the Den Alphas dragged her, and she’d rather not do that. If anything, she had taken off her nails the night before and needed to get a manicure, so that was something she’d be able to look forward to once she was done at the doctor’s. 

She nearly pulled on the same outfit she’d worn the last time, then when it caught her eye, pulled on the MIT sweatshirt she’d stolen from the backseat of the car yesterday. It was a little scratchy since the fabric was made for alphas, and she didn’t exactly need pants since it hung so low on her, but it was so saturated with the pack’s scent that she couldn’t tell who it belonged to originally, and she had nearly gone to sleep in it the night before. 

So, she pulled it on, grabbed her school Metro-Card, then the one that Sam had brought a while ago since she’d refilled it the other day, and left the orphanage. Chase was in the lobby and gave her what was supposed to be a reassuring nod, but it didn’t help much. 

It was nearly too hot outside for her to wear the sweatshirt, though thankfully, the bus and waiting room after was uncomfortably cold. A different nurse than last time came out to call her into the exam room. 

The male led her to a room down the hall from where she’d been last month. The setup was so similar to the other exam room that for a second, she confused the two. Waiting inside was a tray with a terrifyingly large needle on it, and a smaller but no less imposing vial next to it that was filled with a clear liquid. 

On the table was a gown, and when the door closed behind the male, she quickly changed into it. Afterward, she sat stiffly on the table, goosebumps lining her flesh. 

Not much time passed before a beta female came in. The two exchanged some pleasantries, but it only delayed the inevitable. The nurse placed the tray on the table near Sofia’s thigh and swiped an alcohol swab over a part of her arm. 

Sofia focused on the computer that was attached to the wall across from her, but still saw the needle approaching in her periphery vision, and barely stopped herself from flinching when it entered her skin. 

It was over quickly, but not fast enough, and Sofia was left with a sore arm and budding stomach ache when the nurse pulled out the needle. It was carefully bandaged, and the supplies thrown out. 

By the time the nurse left her with a parting pat on the knee, Sofia was just waiting for the click of the door so she could vomit into the conveniently placed bedpan. 

While this happened every time she got the flusher shot, she was never quite sure what to do after, so she put the bedpan on the counter then as an afterthought covered it with some paper towels. 

The flusher shot was a sudden influx of hormones that would counteract the other, sudden influx of hormones and chemicals that she’d gotten in the behavioral suppressant a few months prior. Coincidentally, it also made her vomit, violently. 

The vomiting was such a common side effect that it was probably the reason that the doctor gave her a few minutes before entering. Behind him was the same nurse from earlier, and she took the vomit filled bedpan out of the room. She came back right after, so she probably didn’t actually dispose of anything, and shut the door behind herself. 

This was what Sofia had been fearing the most. 

On this new tray that the nurse came in holding, was a larger, more imposing needle that she was certain couldn’t possibly be meant to fit inside her. 

“Hello,” the doctor greeted, and to Sofia’s relief, it was a different doctor than last time, one that she recognized faintly from a routine appointment a year or two back. 

“Hi.” 

“So, before we start, I want to ask you whether or not you want Nurse Abby in the room with us, I won’t take any offense, and she’ll be standing behind me or she can hold your hand if you want,” Sofia nodded tentatively, then nodded again towards the wall when the nurse asked her preference. 

“Okay, now I’m guessing you only sort of know what’s about to happen.” Sofia nodded, they weren’t really allowed to talk about this but she understood the gist of it. 

“It is going to hurt, and you’ll bleed some so don’t take any blood thinners if the pain persists, but it should be gone soon if you rest enough,” he told her, small wrinkled brown eyes softening in kindness. He was officially Sofia’s favorite old person. 

“Alright, let’s get this over with so we can get you home.” 

Sofia nodded, awkwardly arranged her feet in the stirrups, and blushed furiously when the old alpha male slid between her legs on a rolling stool. 

He opened her up with a speculum, gloved hands cautious but firm and confident at the same time. 

Sofia didn’t want to watch as he slid the needle closer to her, and the angle didn’t make it easy, but she still tracked it’s movements, “Now, you’re close to heat which is good, means the lining is nice and thick so we won’t have to look for it too much.” 

Sofia felt it when it happened, and it was more painful than she could have imagined. The needle slid into the lining of her uterine wall, punctured it, then collected some of the blood that spilled from it. 

When he was done, the cylindrical part of the needle was half full with thick red blood, and she was sorer than she anticipated. 

The doctor gave her a sympathetic glance emitting a little bit of soothing alpha pheromones, but left before it got even more awkward. 

“Do you have a pad on you, sweetie?” Nurse Abby asked, and walked over to her as she gingerly pulled her legs out of the stirrups. Sofia shook her head, doing her best not to lean into the comforting hand the nurse placed on her shoulder. 

The nurse nodded at her, rubbed her shoulder up and down, then pulled away to pull a thick, ugly pad out of the overhead cabinet. 

“Yeah I know, just get yourself home and comfortable.” 

Sofia laughed and accepted the pad. She didn’t tell the nurse that while she sometimes referred to the orphanage as home accidentally, she’d realized sometime around middle school that it was anything but that. 

She put her clothes on when the nurse had left, thick and uncomfortable pad included, and used the second free swipe on her school Metro-Card to get on a bus headed for Sunset-Park. 

It was a less than pleasurable walk from where the bus left her and into the nail salon, but she stopped at a bodega midway to buy herself a packet of Tylenol and a bag of Doritos. 

“I put my dick in a bag of Doritos,” she muttered as she walked towards the nail salon. She was in desperate need of a manicure after taking off her tips the night before. 

When she entered the doors of the nail salon, she was greeted by loud, upbeat salsa music, and the sight of a woman sitting in one of the two pedicure chairs while another sat at a desk getting her fingernails done. 

The woman she was looking for was sitting alone at one of the desks, fiddling with something on her phone. She was in her late forties, with thick, straight brown hair that was pulled up in a messy bun and kind eyes that had just started to wrinkle a year or two before. 

“My gringita,” Rosana said, and Sofia accepted the hug from her, the comforting scent of an older omega flooding her nose.

“Hi Tia,” she returned, mind filled with memories of her and Rose sitting side by side behind the main desk on the ground, fiddling with the chemicals and replacing it with either a twenty or wide eyes and an overly sweet apology. 

“Come, you need your toes yes?” Rosana asked, and Sofia smiled, nodded, and pulled away. It never failed to surprise her how much Rose looked and acted like her namesake. If she hadn’t known any better, she’d have thought that Rosana was her friend’s mother. 

Sofia went over to grab a light purple nail polish, then after a second thought grabbed an orange-pink one, briefly rethought her decision, and realized she was probably taking too long so stuck with the second color. 

She sat down in the chair, and put her feet onto the little stool after taking off her shoes and socks for the second time that day, then leaned back, the back of the chair massaging her just rough enough that it was pleasurable. 

Rosana told her a good deal of family gossip while she worked, and Sofia gave her enough information about the people she went to school with in return that they got an eye roll from a beta she didn’t know and a “Don’t worry gringita, the whole world knows I’m a- shit uhh tea spiller,” Rosana sucked her teeth in thought rethinking her words, shrugged and said, “well if you don’t know what chismosa means by now then no puedo ayudarte.” 

Sofia smiled, remembering how her freshman year she’d been listening intently into a conversation between two older girls and Rose had grabbed her arm to pull her away with a, “Come on chismosa I got better stuff than that.” She and Rose had been inseparable ever since.

~~~~

Chase was sitting on the sofa by himself, a few files that she wasn't supposed to see spread out in front of him when she got upstairs. She was still in pain, had on the uncomfortable pad, and a stomach ache from the bag of Doritos she’d eaten earlier, but knew she couldn’t sleep yet. 

She took the remote from the spot next to him, and sat as close to him as she could without being in his lap. 

“You smell good,” she said, head on his chest as he instinctively straightened up and put an arm around her. And, he did, he was emitting the safe, pleased, alpha pheromones that she was used to on him. It wasn’t anything like how the pack smelt to her, but almost identical at the same time. 

“So the shot’s working,” Chase said sarcastically, rubbing a hand over her shoulder. 

“Shut up,” she started fiddling with the remote and eventually settled on SVU. She wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep, but she felt too sick to move much and Chase’s scent soothed an instinctual side of her. 

Chase didn’t say anything, but tightened the arm around her and gave a little growl in his chest that felt more like a rumbling purr. She sighed, and didn’t quite purr in return but hummed a bit in response. 

She made it through the rest of the episode and the one that came right after it before she had to fly off of the couch and run towards the bathroom, bile rising in her throat and hot saliva pooling in her mouth. 

Behind her, Chase cursed, but she didn’t pay him much mind as she finally got to the toilet. Someone pushed up the toilet seat for her, and she tried to pull her hair back with one hand so it wouldn’t get everywhere. 

“Shh, you’re okay,” a deep voice soothed, and Sofia distantly realized that Chase must have followed her. He gathered her hair in a large hand and tied it loosely near the base of her skull so that she could brace both hands on the toilet bowl. 

Tears quickly poured from her eyes as her stomach emptied and she started dry heaving.    
  


Behind her, Chase was still trying to soothe her with gentle words of encouragement, his hand making broad circles on her back. Sofia sat back on her heels and pressed into his arm, whining pitifully in the back of her throat at the soreness of her abdominal muscles and burning throat. 

“Hurts.”

“I know, I know, c’mon let’s get you back on the sofa. Maybe try some ginger ale in a few minutes.” 

Sofia shook her head as vehemently as she could, but Chase just pushed a few stray hairs from her sweaty forehead. 

“Yeah, you’re okay. Take one of the toothbrushes from here to throw away,” she leaned into the nearly too warm hand that he had on her cheek. Chase forced her up before she got comfortable though, and helpfully flushed the toilet for her while she took a disposable toothbrush from above the sink and brushed her teeth with the generic mint toothpaste that the orphanage provided. She had her preferred brand in her room, and her own toothbrush right beside it, but if she went into her room now she’d fall asleep and risk choking on her vomit should her stomach decide to act up while she was unconscious. 

Chase waited for her to brush her teeth before he put a hand on her arm and gently pulled her back towards the couch where some of the files he’d been looking over had fallen onto the floor. 

She didn’t really care about cleaning it up, so let Chase push her to sit then watched as he gathered the paperwork up off the floor. 

He made a shushing sound towards her when she kicked off her shoes to curl up on the couch, and patted her head in a near patronizingly gentle way, “Stay there alright? Gonna get you the ginger ale now.” 

He came back a minute later to put the can of soda on the coffee table, but didn’t push her to drink it. Instead, he sat back down next to her and pulled her against his side. 

She didn’t fall asleep, not that Chase let her with the quiet, partially distracted conversation he kept up between them, but she managed to space out a bit as SVU played on the television. 

Dayja came out into the living room, hair tousled like she’d been having a historically intense sex marathon, eyes a vivid purple, and smelling like heat. 

“I’m okay,” Dayja grunted out, waved off Chase’s concerned glance, and set off towards the bathroom. 

“Well I guess I can send the text now,” Chase said and pulled out his phone even as he rolled his eyes. He sent the text to Dayja’s alpha quickly, telling the male that he’d be able to come to visit Dayja now that she’d entered a bout of near clarity. 

Sofia just stared at the image of her friend’s back, and had to sternly remind herself that she’d made the decision not to forward Tony the consent forms for a reason. Not only did she feel wrong having sex with someone else so close to the mating date, but she definitely didn’t want to ask permission for it. 

“Finish this episode then try and start your homework. You aren’t gonna be able to do much today.” Sofia rolled her eyes, annoyed at the reminder of her work. Chase shot her a silent look of reprimand. 

Sofia knew that look, but she also knew that he wouldn’t do anything right now other than prompt her to leave. The gentle prompting that she expected came twenty or so minutes later when the episode finished. 

“C’mon go get started. You aren’t gonna have time to do it and you know it,” he reminded her, pushing her to sit up with his left hand. 

Sofia sat with a pout that was probably not as angry as she intended it to. Chase nudged her with his knee and she bent to get her shoes so she could walk towards her room with an annoyed huff of air. 

A brief second of rational thought stopped her from slamming the door, but she still closed it as angrily as she dared. 

“I didn’t even get my ginger ale.” 

She opened up her laptop to double-check what work she had to do, then pulled out the calculus packet. They had the choice of doing a hundred questions, or fifty questions and explaining the process. 

If there was one thing about Sofia, it was that while she could elaborate nicely in words, she’d much rather do an extra fifty calculus questions. 

Thankfully, it was all on a worksheet that he’d gotten from a company, so Sofia pulled the company’s website open and pressed a few buttons so that she wouldn’t have to pay to see the teacher’s copy. 

It must have taken whatever program Tony had pre-installed on her computer about a half an hour to notify him, since she managed to copy about half of the questions down before her screen showed an incoming call. When he gave her the laptop, she’d suspected he had installed something on it, and a few weeks ago when he and Steve mentioned her watching the trashy Avengers themed porno her suspicions had been confirmed.

_ “Why are you doing illegal things Sofia?” _

She transferred the call to her phone so she could see the screen again, “Better question is why haven’t you stopped me from doing illegal things?” 

_ “Well I mean it seemed pretty small scale for you since there’s no government secrets involve-” _

“So you elected to leave me be like the kind alpha you are?” Sofia asked, and took in Tony’s appearance properly as she propped her phone up against a stray textbook. He was in a black t-shirt that looked as soft as a cloud, and holding the phone in his hand so all she could see was his face and the area she’d come to associate with their living room behind him. 

Tony shot her a dubious look, then pressed some buttons on his phone that shifted her view to include the rest of the pack either milling around or sitting on the large couch. 

She heard Tony say something, but couldn’t tear her eyes from his soft shirt, “I want that shirt.” 

_ “Oh okay, wait oh- you’re- oh shit yeah I’ll fly it to Brooklyn right now-” _ he said, babbling a bit, then shouted in indignation when Sam pushed him down back onto the sofa. 

_ “We can go bring you a few things sweet pea,” _ Sam offered. 

_ “How much work do you have?”  _ He asked, scratching at Tony’s scalp. 

“I have this, a paper, and probably something else,” she said, and switched over to double-check quickly, “no just this and the paper.” 

Tony gave Sam a hopeful look, and Sofia offered “I’m halfway done with this and the paper is due the first.” 

_ “We should kidnap her.” _

_ “We’re not kidnapping a minor Tony.”  _

“Come kidnap the minor Tony,” she countered, defiantly making eye contact with Sam. 

“No Sofia,” her brows furrowed when the words registered, and she let out a low pitiful whine that had Sam’s eyes widening marginally. 

_ “I- Sofia, do your homework and we’ll bring you clothes.” _

She smiled, a stupid little thing that she usually only wore when she was drunk and went to keep copying down the answers when Tony said,  _ “She’s not even doing it she’s copying.”  _

When Sam turned his shocked eyes on her, she took a screenshot of the page on her laptop, as inconspicuous as she could be. 

“Anyways-”

_ “Sofia you can’t cheat on  _ calculus _ well cheating, in general, is bad but still.” _

Sofia shrugged, not wanting to be reprimanded, but also not in the mood to properly argue. Now that she looked at him though, she was pretty sure he was wearing the dark red henley that Bucky’d been wearing on their first date alone. She wanted it. 

“I could do this with my eyes closed,” she said instead of demanding Sam give her the shirt off of his back. 

Sam gave her a skeptical look as Thor entered the video frame. Rather than continue the petty argument with Sam, she greeted Thor with a “Hey.” 

Thor turned his bright blue eyes on her, and she noticed how the inner ring near his pupils had turned a blood red that looked like it was leeching outwards towards the rest of his irises, “Hello Sofia.” 

Sofia blinked and felt her eyes widen and had the urge to squirm in her seat. 

_ “Oh that? Thor just finished, think Bruce is still going,” _ Tony commented offhandedly, and at that Sofia  _ did _ squirm, images of Bruce and Thor together in the throes of rut, snarling and growling at each other, sheets sticky with cum and-

_ “Nay, he has just settled.”  _

Part of Sofia wanted to know who had topped, intrigued by the idea that Thor’s large form had submitted to Bruce’s quiet, self-conscious one, but the other part of her couldn’t tear her eyes off of Tony’s ass as he went to check on Bruce. 

Her hindbrain really wanted the sheets that were probably stained thoroughly with alpha cum, but her forebrain was grossed out by her own body fluids, much less the idea of anyone else’s. She tore her eyes off of the image that took up her phone screen and started to scribble down the rest of the answers to her homework. Since there wasn’t that much room on the paper, he wouldn’t expect them to show their work so she didn’t bother trying to copy it. 

When she looked back up from her work, it was hard to tell what the others were talking about, especially with Clint coming in and out of the screen and Natasha play fighting with Liho. Even through the screen though, she could feel Thor’s eyes on her bare neck. 

She hadn’t worn the collar to the doctor’s office, not wanting to risk it smelling of chemicals and her own unhappiness, so her neck felt bare and vulnerable under his gaze. 

Sofia wanted his teeth on her. 

_ “Ah- no no, no eye fucking the minor at this point in time, I repeat we are not attempting to jumpstart the minor’s h-word. Anyways,”  _ Tony babbled a bit, walking back into the room with a half-asleep Bruce clinging to him. Sofia distantly realized that she and Thor were probably looking at each other longer than she’d realized, but her eyes were on Bruce’s shirtless, flushed form. 

He wasn’t muscular by far, but that was most of the appeal. He had a little baby fat around his gut that wasn’t quite a beer belly, some hair splattered over his chest, and his salt and pepper curls had flopped over into his eyes. Sofia wasn’t sure if he’d showered or not, but if the way Sam’s nostrils flared was any indication, he hadn’t. 

Had he let Thor top he was probably still slick between his thighs from whatever needlessly expensive lube they used, and she really shouldn’t think about that right now. 

_ “Say hi Brucie bear,”  _ Tony prompted, in a gentle tone just enough of a coo that he wasn’t outright mocking his mate. 

_ “Hi Brucie bear,” _ the other alpha slurred. Sofia was positive that his legs were about to give out on him, and when one of his knees buckled under the little weight Tony let him hold, was proven right. Thor, who was only wearing an undershirt that was probably multiple sizes too small, took a few steps and picked the other alpha up in a bridal carry. 

“Hi Bruce,” Sofia greeted once Thor had set them both down on the sofa. Bruce was between him and Tony, and Sam shifted over so he was on Thor’s other side. She really wished she could tear her eyes off of the thumb Tony stroked over the swollen glands on Bruce’s neck, but if she wasn’t looking at that, she was looking at the bloody mating bite right near the glands, or the swollen one on Thor’s neck. 

Bruce turned his sleepy eyes on Sofia, smiling dopily as if he was drunk, brown eyes still speckled with a fading alpha red. 

_ “Once he’s a little more awake we’ll drug ‘im up and go see you. What do you think about eating in the park again, we’ll buy real food this time though,”  _ Sam offered, his efforts at staying still obvious as Thor pushed his face into the smaller male’s neck. 

“Oh uh that sounds good you don’t have to-” Sofia nearly said that there wasn’t a need for them to drug Bruce, but Tony’s arched brow silenced her. They’d probably only give him a hormone balancer similar to her behavioral suppressant. Most of the ones on the market weren’t harmful to alphas if they were only used a few times a year, whereas trying to balance out an omega’s heat once it had started could end badly if instinct was still in charge. 

_ “What should we bring for dinner?”  _ Natasha asked, Liho settled comfortably on a shoulder. Internally, Sofia grimaced. Her stomach was still more than uneasy, but she didn’t want to say something to Natasha after the small disagreement they’d had the day before in concern to her eating habits. 

She wrecked her brain for answers, and quickly settled on one that seemed like it would appease the alphas the most, “Your choice.” 

Natasha looked like she read between the lines of what Sofia said, but Thor looked up from where he buried his face in Sam’s neck to give her a proud alpha’s smile. 

Clint came into her field of vision before Natasha or Thor could say anything, a comically large cup of juice in his hand. 

He nudged Tony’s shoulder with the side of the cup, and the alpha shot his blond mate a grateful glance. Tony had pulled Bruce over so that he could press the rim of the cup to his lips, and the sight reminded Sofia of when she or the others would try and sneak the younger omegas sips of their drinks. 

They agreed to come over to Brooklyn at six that evening, and once they hung up, Sofia went over to Chase’s room. The alpha wasn’t where she’d left him on the sofa, so it was the next most obvious choice. 

He opened the door cautiously, as if whatever was on the other side would attack him. 

“Hi, I’m here for your Pepto Bismol,” she held a hand out expectantly. Her stomach hadn’t been too bad since she’d started focusing on other things, but she didn’t need to risk vomiting all over anyone in the middle of Prospect Park. 

“Why?” He asked, but still walked towards the shelf where he kept the over the counter medication. Chase’s room was at least three times the size of the omegas’ rooms, painted a dark blue, and less messy than some of her past Den Alphas’ rooms had been. 

“Rose wants to meet up and I don’t wanna get sick outside ‘cause I don’t know if we’re gonna go to her house,” she lied. This close to her heat, Chase was more likely than not to make her stay if she told him she was going to be with an alpha, regardless of who it was. 

She was just going to have to sneak the clothes that they brought her past him somehow. 

“You shouldn’t be going out,” he said, but still dropped two of the round, foul-tasting pink tablets into her outstretched hand. 

“Not gonna be out that late, promise,” she said, and carefully swallowed the two pills in front of him, unable to stop her face contorting in disgust. 

Chase snorted ineloquently, and gestured at the coffee table that was behind her, “The ginger ale’s still there, how much work you got left?” 

“Uhh, I started calc, but that’s all I have to do for break,” she said, knowing that if she told him she was almost finished with the work he would know she found the answers. 

Sometimes, the truth wasn’t the best option available. 

She nodded her thanks at Chase and went to get the soda. It was a little too warm for her liking, but she wasn’t about to complain. Chase nodded back at her and went back into his room, probably to write the Pepto Bismol down on her medication chart. 

There were a few hours until six, so she finished copying the answers to the calculus work, checked on the project she was doing with Paulie and Josephine to see that no one had started anything yet, then went to watch a few more episodes of SVU on the couch. 

Bucky texted her that they were downstairs the same time the SVU marathon ended and Chicago PD started, and she made sure to fix up her appearance quickly so that she could fasten her collar and go downstairs. 

Before closing her door, she eyed the box of color changing contacts that had a permanent residence on her dresser, but decided not to put them in once she remembered that Thor and Bruce’s eyes were more likely than not still spotted with red. 

The ride on the elevator was short, and she got out to the sight of the pack waiting for her in the lobby. It made her realize that Chase would probably find out she hadn’t been with Rose, but he shouldn’t be surprised at her lie. 

Thor, Tony, and Bucky were each holding a duffel bag, and her eyes widened greedily when she noticed Tony wasn’t wearing the soft black shirt he’d had on a few hours ago. 

She took the bag from Bucky first since he was the closest, then held out her hands expectantly towards Thor and Tony. 

“Well hello to you too,” Tony said sarcastically, though he smelt pleased and a little proud. 

“Hand over the goods.” 

“I feel a little like you’re using me.” 

“We can talk when I get what I want,” she promised, and Tony nodded seriously at her. He handed her the duffel bag that he was holding, and to her relief, it was only as heavy as the one Bucky had been holding, which wasn’t heavy at all. 

“This one’s got some blankets from Peter and Harley, wasn’t sure if you’d want ‘em but-”

“Awesome,” she shouldered the second bag. She’d wanted something that smelled like the pups but wasn’t really sure how to ask about it. 

The bags were small enough that she could hold one over her shoulder and another in the hand of the same arm, but she knew she looked a bit awkward anyway. 

“This is adorable,” Clint commented, chin on Bruce’s shoulder. Sofia shot him a dirty look, then looked towards Thor. 

Thor just gave her an amused look, a thin blue ring still around his pupils, and leeching towards the rest of his irises. It wasn’t something she’d ever seen before, and she attributed it to his otherworldly nature. 

“Gimme.” 

“Ask nicely darling,” he muttered, pupils dilated to the point that the thin line of red was almost all she could see. 

Sofia’s nearly squirmed. She could still smell the thin traces of rut on him, already sensitive senses amplified by her incoming heat, and it made her want to take off her collar right there and ask him to sink his teeth in her neck. 

“No.” She wanted him to push her down and fuck her, she wanted to scratch at his skin and make him bleed, she wanted to fight him and  _ lose. _

“How about we just give her the bag,” Tony said, and tugged at the duffel bag that Thor was holding, then looked towards her, “wait are you just gonna carry it all up by yourself?”

She nodded, and accepted the bag Tony offered once Thor released it, “Yeah I’m just gonna put it in my room and come back.” 

Thor and Tony exchanged silent words with a brief second of eye contact. Tony just put a hand on the back of Thor’s neck and smiled softly at Sofia, “Alright, we’ll be waiting here.” 

  
  
  
  



	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Night of 4/9/2020-4/10/2020
> 
> Hey, there's some underage content here, but nothing too descriptive yet so I didn't change the rating for the story. If you squint super hard, you can find some medical kink.  
> ⚠️ ⚠️ Slight trigger warning for forced anal in this chapter(a thermometer not intercourse) ⚠️ ⚠️

Sofia was nervous, again. 

By now, she’d gotten used to it though, between meeting the pack and going on dates with them. This time though, her nervousness was brought on by the sight of the violet irises and blown out pupils that met her when she looked in the mirror after getting up to pee around midnight. 

She poked at the area around her right eye with still wet hands, and sighed at the sight of grey flecks still present. Her pre-heat had partially hit the morning before, which was unusually near her usual schedule, but now it looked like she’d fly right through pre-heat and into a full blown heat at any second. 

The short walk back to her room felt as if it was miles long. Opening the door, she was met with the sight of various articles of clothing and a few blankets thrown all around the room. 

The closet door was thrown wide open and reminded her of a cartoon rendition of vomit. What had once been her nest quite literally  _ spilled  _ from the small space. 

_ It’s whatever _ , she thought to herself, her attention on Tony’s old MIT sweater that had somehow wound up at the seat in front of her desk. It hung past her knees when she pulled it on, and the material was scratchy against her skin in a way that made her fingers twitch to pull it off as soon as it settled around her. It was the same one she’d been wearing all day, but she couldn’t bring herself to switch it out for another one. 

Sofia stood, fiddling with the space of shoulder that stood only clad in the shirt she had under Tony’s sweater as a result of the overlaying garment’s size. What was left of her rational forebrain forced her to switch it for another MIT sweatshirt that was nearly as old. 

Her nest was a complete disaster, and her stomach grumbled slightly just as she was bending down to grab at a Hulk themed fleece blanket on the floor. Fingers pausing at the first brush against the blanket, she cocked her head in consideration. 

She’d found a promising recipe for carrot cake a few days before, and had been wanting to try it for a while now. Even better, the communal kitchens were probably empty. A nice snack would be perfect to help her pass the time and think of how to build her nest. 

Between now and the time it took for the cake to be finished, she would also have enough time to figure out what to say to Tony and the others. 

With her mind made up, she pulled on the fuzzy Avengers themed slipper boots Clint had snuck into one of the three duffel bags full of nesting materials. They were a nauseatingly bright mix of colors, mainly blue and green, but had all of the Avengers on them. Normally, the feeling of anything but bare feet bothered her, and while she would have been more comfortable barefoot, the soft material encased and hugged her toes in a way that made her want to sigh and curl up under a blanket. 

After she got her carrot cake of course. 

The floor was near silent by this time. Everyone was either sleeping or doing their own thing in their respective rooms. Sofia  _ really _ hoped no one else would be in the communal kitchens. 

Thankfully, it seemed that luck was in her favor. Teeth still chattering from the jarring cold of the elevator, Sofia found the kitchen both clean and thankfully empty. 

The communal kitchen was large, though it had to be. To the right of the door she’d walked in through was an industrial sized stove, and there was a large expanse of stainless steel counters to be found on either side and across. The sinks were big enough that she could easily sit in them, and now that she thought about it, overall it kind of reminded her of the kitchen from  Orange is the New Black . 

She found the ingredients for the cake easily and spread them out on the bleak countertop while she set the oven to preheat. The process of preparing the cake mixture was calming. Before she realized it, she’d put the cake in the oven and started on a batch of cookies. 

The timer for her first batch of brownies, which she put in  _ after _ the second batch of cookies was done, and the carrot cake frosted, went off just as she realized that she’d run out of flour in the middle of making the batter for another batch of brownies. 

Tears brimmed in her eyes, while she looked through the pantry, but no matter where she looked, she was still a cup of flour short. Looking at the last of the shelves for the third time, Sofia slid down the wall opposite it, and let herself cry. 

Without realizing it, she’d pulled her, and texted the number for JARVIS. When she’d first discovered his presence on her phone and laptop, she’d been confused as to why a robot had a phone number, but she’d come to terms with it easily enough. 

_ Sofia: Hey is anyone awake? _

The reply had come nearly as soon as she’d pressed send, and something in her heart settled when she read it, and quickly slid into one of her other message threads. 

_ Sofia: Call me?? _

Her phone rang not even a minute later, Bruce’s contact picture flashing briefly before she hit the ‘accept call’ button. 

_ “Sofia? What’s wrong?” _ Bruce said, and the concern evident in his voice made Sofia cry harder, small hiccups leaving her lips while she stuttered out his name. 

_ “Sofia,”  _ he said slowly,  _ “calm down, you’re crying too hard for me to understand you.”  _

Even with Bruce’s gentle guidance, it took a few minutes for her sobs to die down into sniffles. 

“I-” she stuttered, “I ran outta flour.”

_ “Sofia, I’m going to turn this into a video call okay?” _ She nodded her assent, but only realized he couldn’t see her when she heard him prompt her to pull the phone from her face. She sniffled a bit when she made eye contact with him, his eyes were still speckled with small bits of red, it called to her instinctual hindbrain. 

_ “Were you baking sweetheart?” _ Sofia nodded and upped some of her tears from her cheek with her sleeve. 

_ “Alright, I want you to go check on whatever else you have in the oven still, and throw out that batter you started,”  _ Sofia’s face crumpled again at the reminder of her failed attempt at brownies,  _ “don’t cry Sof, c’mon get up, and clean up after yourself. After, I want you to go check if Chase is up, if he’s not, I want you to text him so he knows what’s going on if he wakes up before you.” _

Sofia nodded and let out a shaky breath, her panic ebbing away a bit at the direct orders. She pulled herself from the ground and walked over to start putting things away. Her phone was left leaning up on the counter so she’d be able to hear and see him for the most part. 

By the time she was finished cleaning the kitchen and was staring at the myriad of baked goods on the counter, her temporary calm had faded, and she wondered what the fuck she was supposed to do with all of the food. 

“You’ll take the cookies and the brownies? I mean, one of the brownies got a little burned, but they’re not too bad, and we can eat the cake tomorrow if you guys come. Are you guys coming?”

_ “Yeah Sofia, we’re still coming tomorrow.” _ Bruce’s calm and always rational words helped dial her anxiety down a bit. 

Sofia put the cool brownies in a Tupperware, and the cookies in another, then wrapped the plate the cake was on in aluminum foil. She nodded, slightly frantically at Bruce and piled the Tupperware on top of each other with the brownies on the bottom and the cake on the top. 

She put her phone in her hand, though it was smushed between her hand and one of the containers, so she knew Bruce couldn’t see much if anything. 

When she got to her room, she put the cake inside of the fridge and left the rest of the pastries by the sink. 

_ “What’s that Sofia?” _ She heard and automatically picked up her phone to make sure he couldn’t see the floor of her room. 

“Don’t look,” her words sounded more like a mumble, but she could tell Bruce heard her if the soft smile on his face was anything to go by. 

_ “Alright,”  _ he laughed softly and looked at something off-screen,  _ “I’m going to let you go right now, and I will see you tomorrow.” _

Sofia mumbled a soft, “Tomorrow” in agreement, and Bruce disconnected the call. 

On the ground, her nest was still in shambles, but rather than fix it, Sofia got some of her toys from where she kept them in a drawer and started soaking a few in a thick substance that most omegas used for their heats. It was full of supplemental hormones and oftentimes referred to as a vaginal protein shake. It also stunk like rotten milk and chemicals, but if she didn’t use it her heat would be unnecessarily brutal.

Next, she made sure that the other supplements she’d more likely than not need in the next week were in the drawer next to the container where she had the toys soaking. After she was sure she had more of the practical things taken care of, Sofia looked down at her nest, sat on the ground, and got to work. 

~~~~

Chase woke her up with a loud knock on the door sometime before ten in the morning, and Sofia answered it while rubbing at her eyes. Some part of her realized that she was supposed to be getting ready for something, but for the most part, she was just irritated she had to leave her nest. 

The Den Alpha wasn’t there when she answered though, rather in his place was Tony, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt for probably the first time since she’d met him. 

He probably wasn’t wearing any scent enhancers, but for the past few days, it felt like her senses had been dialed up. 

Tired and with a mind addled from pre-heat, Sofia didn’t say anything, instead wrapped her arms around Tony as tightly as she could and pressed her face into the small portion of his neck she could reach. 

“Oh, well hello to you too.” 

Sofia didn’t acknowledge him and tugged at his sweater in response. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything, and instead followed her as she stepped back into the room. 

Behind him, the rest of the pack followed, and though she couldn’t see them, her sensitive sense of smell picked up on their presence quickly and she let out a happy little purr without meaning to. 

“She’s precious,” someone said, and at the sound, Sofia moved to look at the speaker. It was Natasha, and at the scent of that sweet, almond pastry she still couldn’t name, the omega smiled broadly and moved so she could hug the female just as tightly as she’d been hugging Tony. 

With the lesser height difference, she was able to press her face into the alpha’s neck easier and rubbed her nose against the alpha’s scent glands. 

“Made food,” she mumbled, and when she opened her mouth, she could practically taste Natasha’s scent, and at the idea of tasting the other female’s scent, she flicked her tongue out to lick at the scent gland. 

It swelled under her ministrations, and the scent thickened, both of which encouraged Sofia to start kissing and sucking rather than licking. 

However, it seemed like that crossed whatever line the alphas had agreed on, so Natasha made a tsk sound and pinched Sofia’s hip in a dlight reprimand. 

“We’d love to have some food Sofia, but first we need to get some real food in you first.” 

“Carrot’s a fruit, an’,” Sofia licked at Natasha's scent gland again, “an’ I put cream cheese frosting that’s on bagels, so ‘s breakfast.”

“That’s not breakfast doll,” Bucky said and smoothed back a bit of her hair. 

“Bucky,” she sighed, and seamlessly shifted from Natasha’s arms to his, “you smell like a Jewish mafioso.” She wasn’t able to slide her head into his neck like with the other two, but buried her head as far into his chest as the hard muscle would allow. 

“That’s a new one.” 

“C’mon Sofia, I got food.”

“Gonna eat Bucky birdie.”

“You can’t eat me Sofia, now come, we got you one ‘a those fancy ass care packages.”

Sofia lifted her head from where it was buried in Bucky’s chest to look at the others, and noticed that Clint did indeed have a large, saran wrapped package in his hand. She’d never gotten a care package before, and especially not a heat care package, so he was more than excited to see what was inside. 

“It smells like someone baked hundreds of cheesecakes at once.” 

“I am hundreds of cheesecakes”

“No Sofia, you’re one omega”

Sofia growled at Tony, and ignored the bag in favor of hugging Clint once she registered his scent properly. 

“Technically, I’m supposed to ask if you’re okay.” Chase said, and Sofia turned to give him a dirty look and say, “Get the fuck out you fucking-” 

Clint had cut her off with a hand on her mouth. She missed Chase exiting the doorway in favor of licking his hand. 

“We have procured you a sandwich Sofia,” Thor said, and Clint let go of Sofia so she could look at Thor. 

She didn’t really want the sandwich, but for the moment her hindbrain was in control and the thought of alphas bringing her food warmed her heart like nothing else. 

If her forebrain had been in control, she’d never have acted the way she was now, but for the moment, her hindbrain was thriving at the idea of having not just one alpha, but an entire War Pack full to help her through her heat. 

“That’s it sweet pea, just half for right now okay?”

Rather than encourage her to eat, Sam’s words just made her attention shift to him. Eyes wide, she appraised Sam, who looked shocked and slightly fearful. 

Thor passed him a wrapped loaf, and Sam fumbled a bit while he unwrapped it, but eventually held out half of a steaming sandwich towards her like an offering to a madman. 

“What is it?”

“Bacon egg and cheese, Chase said you’d probably eat it.”

“Baconeggandcheese my guy, but fuck it.”

Hindbrain in full control, Sofia was only able to stare at the sandwich, and though she didn’t want it, Sam looked like he was facing down some kind of vicious animal so Sofia decided to take pity. 

The sandwich tasted good, but it wasn’t the best by far and she immediately noticed something missing. 

“Hot Sauce.” 

“You’d throw it up Sofia don’t whine.” She was pretty sure that was Tony, muttering the words softly and stroking her back. 

“Gonna throw this up too.”

Behind her, Clint let out a soft, “Oh.”

Sofia didn’t pay them any mind as she nibbled half-heartedly at her sandwich.

“We should cuddle.” 

“Are you sure?” Tony asked, voice tentative and unsure.

“Fuck it, but no food in the nest I don’t sleep on crumbs an’ eat the cake’s good shit.” 

Sofia stumbled a bit on her way back into the nest, but wedged herself in the small space and sight. The alphas looked a bit awkward and hadn’t taken her direction to cuddle her, so she rolled on to her back and said loudly, “I’m lonely.”

It was like a switch had been flipped. Tony, being the closest to the closet, toed off his shoes and started to wedge himself into the nest. The space was small for Sofia alone, and with the addition of his large form, downright cramped. 

Tony managed it though, and curled himself around Sofia so that he was spooning her from behind, and their faces were all that was showing. 

~~~~

He had to keep reminding himself not to laugh as Thor tried to wedge himself into the tiny closet. 

It was absolutely comical, Thor was over seven feet tall, and had to basically curl up into a ball so he could fit in. However, it was also pretty sad that her nest was so small. Their omega deserved the biggest nest in the world, with all the blankets and clothes she could dream of.

“This is gay,” Sofia mumbled into Thor’s chest, and the blond just rubbed a placating hand over the small of her back. 

Thor took a piece of brownie from Clint and looked like he was trying to get Sofia to eat it. 

“No food in here gonna get fucked on crumbs.”

“Ain’t gonna get fucked doll,” Bucky’s words made Sofia turn halfway and frown. 

Tony cursed inwardly while Sofia shifted away from Thor so she could sit atop his legs. 

“Why I ain’t gonna get fucked?” She asked, shifting unhappily and making Tony’s nose scrunch up in distaste. Her scent had turned acrid, and annoyed, both things his heated up omega should never smell like. 

“Can’t Sofia.” She’d turned her head inwards so she could lick across his swollen and slightly irritated scent glands. The omega was straddling him and Tony’s hindbrain wanted to shove her back to the nest and knot her. 

“Poland,” she was muttered into his neck, and he felt his confusion fade as she continued, “legal in Poland, think it’s fifteen, an’ Brazil, an’ Australia, think Italy too, don’t know ‘bout England, prolly parts ‘a the Caribbean, and if Antarctica's real there too.”

“If Antarctica’s real?” Steve half-shouted at the same time Sam said, “Sofia can’t do that sweet pea.”

Sofia didn’t answer Steve, but said to Sam, “Tony’s supposed ta be rich.” 

“I am rich,” Tony said, feigned outrage in his voice. 

“Not richer than Jeff Bezos.” Sofia’s words prompted Tony to let out an undignified noise and nearly shout, “Thirty fucking cents!”

The feeling of the omega in his arms and on his lap put something inside of him at ease, and his hindbrain howled in joy. When she kissed him hurriedly, he made sure to change the pace to a more languid one and let her explore his mouth until instinct kicked in and he took control again. 

A knock on the door had him pulling away like a teenager and pushing her head back into his neck so the Den Alpha wouldn’t notice what they’d been doing. 

And wasn’t  _ that _ emasculating, being scared to get caught kissing his future mate by someone almost half his age. 

“Need her temperature,” he heard and saw Sam nod. He paid some attention to the conversation but knew his packmate had it covered. Sam came back around and it was a joint effort to get Sofia to let them take her temperature orally but they managed. Part of him wanted to see her on her stomach, ass exposed to get her temperature taken, but his forebrain liked to consider himself too much of a feminist for that. 

When it was done, Tony mentally gave a sigh of relief. She had barely left the double digits, which meant they had a little more time with her. 

Clint gave her a slightly patronizing pat on the cheek and cooed at her a bit. In return, she took his thumb into her mouth and did something that made him wheeze a bit. 

“Fuck me,” she mumbled stubbornly around Clint’s thumb. 

Clint said, blue eyes a little wide with shock and arousal bleeding a little into his scent, “Not gonna fuck you.” 

Tony knew that it was both the right and wrong thing to say since none of them wanted to lie to her, but it was also not at all what she wanted to hear. So, like he had a feeling she’d do, she bit down hard enough on Clint’s thumb that he gave a yelp of pain. 

Bruce was the only one that wasn’t too busy laughing to help dislodge the omega, who was growling unhappily like a pup who felt like their favorite toy was being threatened. Clint’s finger was a little bloody, but it didn’t look like anything serious so no one paid it much attention other than Bucky who obligingly kissed it better. 

“Poor little omega.”

Sofia just wriggled impossibly closer to him, but he wound up having to shift her over to Sam who was to his right from fear of popping a knot in his sweats like a nineteen-year-old that had just figured out how they worked.

Sam sat her between his legs with her back against his chest so that he could try and get the rest of the cooled sandwich into her, but all she seemed to want to do was press her face into his scent glands. Tony was fairly sure he was already in love, but he didn’t need to think about that. 

He watched his normally calm mate have to put a hand tightly around the omega's neck, then nearly choked on his own spit at the wide smile and loud chirp of happiness she let out.

A few more hours passed, and they had to check her temperature three more times before it broke a hundred-and-two and they had to leave. 

The Den Alpha gave them privacy for the goodbye, and they all gave her a kiss after Bucky convinced her to eat a protein bar. His vague suspicion that Sofia didn’t really know what was going on was confirmed when she started to make sad and confused noises that were the complete opposite of how any omega should sound  _ ever, _ and his cold, dead heart clenched at them. 

“Where you going?” She asked, half-buried into a gigantic Mickey Mouse as they started to open the door. 

“We’re leaving Sofia,” Tony said softly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Sofia shook her head adamantly and fisted a hand in his shirt. 

“I’m sorry, I won’t ask to be fucked again, promise I’ll be good, promise.”

“Not about that hun,” he said, hindbrain howling at the tears that had started falling from her eyes, “remember how Clint said we agreed to some things earlier?” Sofia nodded sadly, already knowing what was going to happen. 

“Alpha  _ please _ .”

Sofia cried but let him dislodge her fist from his shirt, and so when a Stitch stuffed animal hit him in the head while Sofia shouted out her protests it hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit. 

“Is it always that bad?” He heard Bruce ask the Den Alpha whose name he hadn’t bothered to remember. The younger alpha half shrugged and Tony knew he saw this a lot, but he was more irked than not about how nonchalantly he handled the omega’s obvious distress. 

“Sometimes, but usually her and her friend sync up and spend it together.”

“Is there a reason they didn’t?”

The younger alpha looked slightly apologetic for what he was about to say, but to Tony’s slight surprise, didn’t react to the way Bruce and Sam were unconsciously crowding him. 

“Her friend turns eighteen while  _ in _ heat, and the law’s finicky about it. Technically you could have consented for her, but it’s too late now and Sofia felt weird asking you.”

Sam said something to him, but the conversation was already almost over, so Tony stopped paying attention. 

~~~~

Sofia stopped crying, but mostly because her heat had kicked in full gear and her hindbrain was sad but was also more focused on the toys that were waiting for her. 

Her phone dinged with something that she didn’t want to check, but instead, she slid into the uncharacteristically silent group chat before changing her mind and going to text Natasha. 

_ Sofia: Ur boobies r gorgeous _

The alpha didn’t respond so she sighed and rolled onto her back so she could pick up her toy again. 

Some time passed, and she was pretty sure she slept a bit, but a knock on her door woke her up. It was Jasmine, the Den Alpha from the nursery. Her hair was pulled in a messy bun, and she looked amazing, smelled better, but her hindbrain just reminded her of how Natasha’s scent glands felt under her tongue, so she didn’t say anything. 

“Hello Sofia,” she said, and Sofia liked how happy she sounded. Nice looking alphas deserved nice things. 

“Alpha,” she whined out a little, and Jasmine ruffled her hair a bit. 

“I’m gonna take your temperature, and get you food.”

“I’d rather have a dick in my mouth, or a clit. Clits come with boobies.”

“Yes they do,” Jasmine said indulgently, and pushed something against Sofia’s lips. It didn’t taste good, and she shook her head only for Jasmine to give her a disappointed alpha look that made her want to cry. 

“Good omega.” She heard as the alpha rubbed a hand over her exposed side. “I see we got rid of clothes a bit early.” She nodded because early on, the clothes she was wearing had gotten too hot and too restricting for her. 

Jasmine was a very smart alpha. 

“Do you think you could eat some more for me? Maybe have a drink?”

Sofia shook her head and whined a bit, her stomach feeling uneasy with the little food she had eaten. 

“Alright, just roll over for me so I can get your temperature.” Sofia shook her head because she knew, she  _ knew _ it was going to be rectal, and she’d honestly rather have anything else. 

“No.”

Jasmine looked a bit taken aback, but ever the optimist she just patted the side of Sofia’s hip to soothe her. But, she wasn’t easily soothed or in the mood to be and she didn’t want the alpha in her nest either. 

“Pup’s crying go check.”

“There are no pups crying Sofia, now roll over for me.”

“Put it in my mouth.”

Jasmine seemed to either ignore her or not care about what to say anymore, since she just rolled the fighting omega onto her side to take her temperature. She kicked and even tried to stand, but Jasmine dug her nails lightly into her scruff and she melted into the grasp. 

The actual process of getting her temperature taken was pretty quick, but Sofia still squirmed in Jasmine’s grasp to the point where the alpha gave her a light smack on the thigh to get her to settle.

“Where’s your collar honey? And I’ve got cuffs if you want.” Part of Sofia knew that meant her temperature was too high for the alpha’s comfort, but she liked the idea of the heavy, medical-grade restraints around her wrists and ankles too much to pay much attention. And, her collar would feel wonderful on her over sensitive scruff and scent glands. 

“Ankles?”

“Yes Sofia, now tell me where your collar is.” Jasmine hadn’t made it an alpha order, but had put enough sternness in her voice that Sofia answered albeit slowly. 

Jasmine rubbed her back a bit, and Sofia purred encouragingly but it didn’t stop the alpha from getting up to look for the collar. 

She rolled to her side so she could watch, but her vision was blurry so all she saw was a blonde blob walking around. The blob got closer and put something snugly around her neck. Sofia purred in pleasure a bit and offered her ankles and wrists when prompted. The cuffs weren’t connected to anything, and neither was the collar, but they pressed securely on the certain points of her body that she’d usually be restrained by in a partnered heat. 

Jasmine took out her ponytail and put her hair in a bun, knowing Sofia wouldn’t care enough to do it herself when she needed it. 

“Ready to eat some more?” Sofia shook her head a bit mournfully, but Jasmine pulled her so she was sitting up anyways. She pressed the spout of something to her lips and squeezed the sports bottle of red Gatorade so the drink wet her lips. It registered quickly, and despite her earlier protests, Sofia drank most of the bottle at once. 

“Such a  _ good _ omega for me, Sofia, gonna leave now okay?” Sofia nodded since she really hadn’t wanted Jasmine there in the first place. She left right after, but Sofia wasn’t able to sleep, instead looked disdainfully at her small nest. In a split-second decision, she pulled off the shirt she’d put on Mickey earlier, put it on herself, and started to disassemble her nest. 

She didn’t like the thought of doing it at all, but she liked the way no one had really been able to fit in her nest even less so she tore it up quickly. Pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, sex toys, and bits of random clothing items soon littered the room and the first thing Sofia did was try and fit her desk into the newly empty closet.

It was tight and awkward, but she managed and put her backpack on top of the already cluttered surface. With that, most of her room was cleared and the next bit was her bed. Before clearing her bed, she took the bins and shoeboxes from under it and put them under her desk in the closet. 

Her bed was much harder and took her a few minutes but she eventually got it to cover her closed door and rest flat against the far wall. 

The dresser was even harder to move, and she stumbled a few times, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. 

“Fuck,” she whined out a bit, sweaty and tired. The dresser was heavy and made an ugly noise when she tried to move it but she pressed hard enough so that it skidded and rested on the wall where her bed had been around twenty minutes before. 

She stripped the bed and used the sheets, quilt, and pillows along with the myriad of new stuffed animals to help her make the new nest that covered a majority of the floor’s room. When she ran out of blankets for the floor portion, she grumbled in annoyance then pulled her mattress from the bed and threw it to the middle of the floor. It would be an awkward fit, but it would work. 

She had to get some of the sterile smelling spare nesting equipment from the linen closet to use and realized it must have been around the middle of the night when she saw no one was sitting on the couch. Sofia was an omega on a mission though, so just went back and forth from her room to the closet until she’d emptied the closet’s contents into her room. 

The new nest covered just about every inch of her floor. It was thick and comfortable to the point where she would have knocked out immediately if it wasn’t for the fact that now she felt terribly exposed compared to how she usually felt in her nest. 

Panic started to form while she looked around herself and the too large nest, but she saw the space under her bed and immediately scurried under there with her Mickey Mouse. 

Her toys had wound up on the floor where her desk had been, and she crawled out to get them a few minutes later. 

Chase came in around a half an hour after that wave passed, and scared Sofia with the sudden movement. 

“Holy shit,” he half shouted, and she jerked so hard she almost hit herself on the underside of the low bed. 

“Sofia? Are you in here?” He asked as he came in, and closed the door, thankfully leaving his shoes outside. Sofia was half hidden behind her Mickey Mouse again and had thrown her toys back by the space where her desk used to be. 

She felt Chase jostle the stuffed animal, and hissed unthinkingly at the intruding alpha. 

“There you are omega,” he said, but all Sofia could focus on was the hand he had on her Mickey Mouse and the fact that he was in her nest so rather than greet him, she growled again and scooted further towards the wall behind her. 

“I need to take your temperature Sofia. It's been a few hours and you need to eat.” He pulled the stuffed animal away from her hard enough it nearly ripped, then reached back under the bed so he could pull her by the ring of her collar. 

“Get out of here,” she said half feral already. He didn’t respond so she continued, “I don’t want you here, Chase get  _ out _ , I don’t want you here.”

Chase just shook his head and slid two fingers under the back of the collar so he could press his nails into her scruff. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlewhores, this is the promised double update. I should have a third update somewhere between tonight and tomorrow. Please keep up the love, you guys are super supportive and I love it.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Night of 4/10/2020-4/11/2020
> 
> Some more heat content and bonding for you. I still don't feel like I need to up the rating, but there's a reason that you don't have to squint for the little bit of medical kink I snuck in.....or the two seconds of infantilism.  
> ⚠️ ⚠️ Actual trigger warning here for forced anal(same as last chapter just more descriptive) ⚠️ ⚠️

“I think mine was the best,” Tony argued as they started to settle down in bed. His body was sore and relaxed in the way it always was after sex, but his hindbrain was still nagging at him to go back and get Sofia to the point where he knew he wouldn’t sleep any time soon. 

“No no,” Clint argued, the side of his face pressed into Thor’s chest. 

“Bucky’s was the best.” 

“Bucky’s scared him a little.” 

“Shut up Buck you got hard the second you read it.”

Tony snorted and said, “She wants to ride my dick like a stolen car,” in reference to the message he’d gotten from a heat ridden Sofia a few hours ago. 

“And I’m gonna get the ‘gluck gluck nine-thousand.” 

“Clint, you gonna do that while she gets ‘the ever-living shit fucked out of her by Bucky’s metal fist?” Natasha asked, but then turned to Bruce who was pointedly not taking part in the conversation even as he trailed a thumb over Steve’s flushed cheek. 

“Are you ever gonna tell us what she said to you?” Bruce muttered something low enough that Tony couldn’t hear it, but if the way Bucky choked on his next breath was any indication, it was something scarily interesting. 

At Clint’s half-hearted prompting, Bucky repeated it through wheezing laughs, “She sent him a twitter thread about this girl that hadda go to the  _ hospital _ because he literally rearranged her insides, then asked if he would do it to-” Bucky cut himself off but by then they’d all gotten the gist of it and were laughing. 

“All I got was a ‘your boobies are gorgeous’ then an ‘also you can step on me’ a few hours later,” Natasha said, slightly sarcastic. 

“You step on my foot all the time why- _ oh _ ” Clint said. 

“I’m pretty sure I have a leather corset in the closet.”

“Please, please put it on.”

“Bucky no.”

“Sam no, Bucky yes,” Clint insisted, stretching languidly. 

“I hope she’s okay,” Steve mused, and they all gave varying hums of agreement. 

“Not her first time doing this,” Bucky groused, and Bruce let out a considerate noise, “If anything, it’ll probably be shorter than usual.” 

Tony knew that either her heat would shorten, or lengthen, but either way, it would be worse for his small, future mate than usual. Whenever his mind conjured up the image of her laying in that too small nest, near suffering, his hindbrain roared in protest and urged him towards swooping in and rescuing her. 

It was going to be a long few days for him. 

~~~~~

Sofia woke up, her muscles protesting and cramps erupting from her lower abdomen that made her want to curl up into a ball and never emerge. Her heat wasn’t over yet, but she’d probably get a few more hours of clarity before it kicked in again. It was up to Chase whether or not he thought the pack coming by would be okay or not, so she made a mental note to ask him. 

The first thing she did was fumble around her room for her towel, only to find that it was damp with sweat and probably a fair amount of slick. Too tired to grumble, she stumbled her way towards her dresser and grabbed the things she needed to shower.

She didn’t bump into anyone on her way to the shower, and zoned out as the steaming water pelted against her sore muscles. She had to use one of the orphanage’s towels, and it was scratchy and smelt wrong, but she still wrapped herself up in it so she could walk back to her room. 

When she got there, she was greeted to the more than comical sight of Chase crouched on the ground and looking underneath her bed frame for her. She announced her presence with an annoyed grunt and pulled open one of her drawers so that she could grab a sports bra and the first pair of boxer briefs that she could find. She put a slick pad on the briefs, pulled them on, then tugged the sports bra over her head. 

“Oh there you are,” Chase said, then he overdramatically averted his eyes when she dropped the towel and started to pull on the clothes. Her hair would be dry and brittle soon enough if she didn’t put anything in it, but it could be dealt with later. 

“Dayja wanted to talk to you,” he said, a little gentler, and Sofia’s purple eyes widened in shock before they darkened in sadness. 

“Oh,” she mumbled, nodded, and turned robotically so she could go towards Dayja’s room. The other omega was standing outside of her own doorway, room as bare and empty as it had been a little less than four years ago when she’d moved in. 

Dayja still smelt like heat, and her friend’s eyes were that murky shade of brown they only got from colored contacts. But, Dayja also smelt a strange mix of sad and happy. Sofia hoped she smelt similarly since she knew how much her friend had looked forward to this. 

“I’m leaving,” Dayja mumbled more than said, and Sofia nodded at the unnecessary words. 

“I’ll miss you,” she tacked on, and Dayja moved forward to wrap her in her arms. Sofia let herself be hugged tightly but was only half sure that her arms were as tight as Dayja’s. 

The other omega let out a sound of interest when her nose unthinkingly found its way to Sofia’s scent glands, and instinctively she bared her throat. 

“And this is where I break you up,” Chase said and grabbed Sofia by the scruff with just enough bite from his nails that the omega sagged into the grip before she realized what was happening. 

Dayja’s alpha was a tall man, with skin lighter than hers but still shades darker than Sofia’s, and dark brown, nearly black eyes. Now, he wrapped his arms around Dayja from behind and tugged her friend backward. 

“We gotta get going, c’mon Jay,” he said to her, but Sofia couldn’t hear what he was saying over the roar of her blood in her ears, and the high-pitched, angry noise that ripped itself out of her friend’s chest. 

“You’re gonna set her off Sofia, and you know it. Let’s get you back to your room, okay? Your pack is gonna come for you soon, and you’re gonna all cuddle in your nice big nest, alright?” Chase said into her ear, and Sofia blindly lashed out behind her with an elbow. 

He shook her harder when her elbow made contact, and nearly lifted her off of the ground with just his grip on her scruff. 

When they finished the short walk to her room, he nearly threw her on the ground. Her body bounced off of the large Mickey Mouse that she’d been holding most of the night, probably comically. 

Her lip trembled, and a sob fell from her lips once she heard the click of her door close. 

“Sofia, I gotta get your temperature ‘fore they get here, you can’t get all worked up,” he said, brushing a wet strand of hair off of where it had stuck to her cheek. 

“Fuck off,” she muttered and slapped his hand away. 

“Sofia, we knew this would happen, this is part of the plan,” he sighed, and knelt down beside her. She thrashed against his hold, but he took a hold of her shoulder and turned her so she was on her front. 

When she continued to kick out towards him, he landed a stinging smack on the exposed skin of her thigh. The action made her shriek out in anger, but that only garnered a repeat. 

A few minutes passed by before she sagged in his grip, hiccuping breaths escaping her lips. He pulled down her underwear with one hand, then had to take his other hand off of her so that he could grab the thermometer. 

Sofia struggled weakly when she felt his hands on her ass, earning another stinging smack that she was sure had been the harshest yet. 

“Calm, omega,” he said in that stern voice that wasn’t quite an alpha voice but didn’t leave much room for questions. 

“Chase, no,” she said, words interrupted by her own hiccups, “Chase, c’mon put it in my mouth, Chase, don’t.” 

“Omega, stop wriggling, this is how it always happens,” he said, then when she stopped writhing for a brief second, slipped the thermometer inside of her. 

The reading didn’t take long to come through, and when it did, he gave her a not so soothing pat on her flank and pulled her underwear back up. 

“All done, Sofia, you’re okay,” he soothed, and then offered, “Want the cuffs? They’re right over here, next to your collar.”

She nodded weekly but didn’t look back at the alpha who’d stepped away from her. 

He put the restraints on her a little looser than she would have liked, the pressure they offered soothed something inside her nonetheless. 

“Your alphas are gonna be here soon.” 

Sofia nodded and did her best not to lean into his touch. He left a second later, with a soft click from the door. She dozed a bit before she heard another noise, but didn’t turn her head until a hand scratched her head gently. 

“Hey,” a low, cautious voice said as the scent of alpha flooded her nose, “we’re here Sofia.”

She let out a little hum but didn’t move other than to look up blearily through one eye at the blur that was Tony. 

“Take your thumb out your mouth, that can’t be sanitary,” he said, and  _ oh _ she hadn’t even realized her thumb was in her mouth. Sofia didn’t have as much of an oral fixation as some of her other friends did, so she was a little surprised that she’d started sucking her thumb. 

Distantly, she heard someone ask Chase if she had any pacifiers, but she didn’t pay the background noise much attention as she pulled her thumb from her mouth to raise a hand up towards Tony in a wordless invitation for cuddles. 

He cooed at her, but obliged nonetheless, pulling her up with a grip from under shoulders and into his lap. Sitting down, even atop the soft fabric of his black sweatpants, reminded her of the near forgotten sting in her ass, and she felt a high pitched whine bubble up in her throat. 

Rather than sitting on his lap, she maneuvered herself so that she could kneel with each of her knees on either side of one of Tony’s. She pressed her nose into his scent glands that were already littered with mating bites so she could take in greedy lungfuls of his scent. 

Bucky made a little pitying sound behind her that sent butterflies through her stomach, then said more than asked, “Poor little omega got spanked?”

Naturally, Sofia ignored his words, and tried to burrow further into Tony, only to hear Chase say, “Didn’t want her temperature taken.” 

Bucky chuckled, and said in a condescending tone that made her wish she wasn’t so consumed by those painful heat cramps so she could punch him, “So poor doll got a spanking and her temperature taken anyways.” 

“Quit teasing her Buck,” Steve said, and ran a soothing hand over her back, as she heard Bruce start saying something to Chase, Bucky retorted with, “Quit acting like you ain’t eve-”

“Got you food,” Sam said to her, effectively cutting off the bickering super soldiers and rubbing some of her exposed shoulder. 

She shook her head and heard the door click shut. 

“Alright, you could eat later sweet pea, turn a bit for me?” He asked her, and when she obliged at his and Tony’s combined gentle insistence, she felt smooth rubber pushed against her lips. 

She shook her head, even in the haze of heat coherent enough to refuse the pacifier, but the blur that was Bruce’s crouched form persisted, “Your fever is too high Sofia, and until you eat I can’t give you anything for it. Take this.” 

His voice had a firm edge that she would never have expected from the gentle alpha, and she unthinkingly parted her lips enough for him to slip it between her lips. 

She automatically hated it, just like her more rational side knew she would. She wasn’t sure if pacifiers were made from rubber or silicone, but whatever it was it sat on her tongue heavily and was the generic, oddly shaped one from the orphanage. It reminded her nothing of her thumb, which was warm and familiar to her. 

Still, she gave it a halfhearted suck before spitting it out and turning back to smooch her face into its previous spot in Tony’s neck. 

“Don’t like,” she said into the skin of his neck and swiped her tongue over the already sensitive glands in a broad stroke. Underneath her, Tony shuddered and she let herself get more comfortable on his lap so that she could press her thigh between his legs. 

A pinch on the still reddened skin of her thigh made her growl in annoyance, “Take it Sof,” Bruce said, in that tone that wasn’t quite an alpha voice that it felt like everyone was using on her. 

The tone worked, just like it always seemed to do, and she took the pacifier into her mouth. It was strange and wrong, and a little slimy from earlier, and didn’t taste like alpha the way Tony’s scent glands had. 

She really didn't like it, but her hindbrain didn’t want to risk the thought of disappointing Bruce by spitting it out, so instead, she bit it as hard as she possibly could. 

It didn’t tear easily under her teeth, and she had to shift it so it was underneath one of her sharp canines, then started to break off pieces. 

Tearing up the pacifier put an ache in her gums, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before. A year or two ago, one of the Den Alphas that had been taking care of her had insisted on the pacifier to the point where she’d threatened to put straps to secure it, so Sofia had carefully torn up the pacifier in her mouth and then spit it on the Den Alpha the next she’d seen her. 

Gathering bits and pieces of a broken pacifier and spitting it on Tony would probably not result in anything positive, but she doubted there would be a replacement. 

Mind made up, she pulled back from Tony far enough so that she could look up at him through her lashes and make eye contact. Then, she spit out the pacifier onto his shirt. 

Without her glasses, she couldn’t make out the specifics of Tony’s facial features, but smelt the way his scent shifted from shocked, to annoyed, to amused. 

“Sofia what the fuck?” He asked, a tinge of laughter in his voice. She didn’t answer, just narrowed her eyes and huffed unhappily. 

“Aren’t omegas supposed to be docile at this point?” He asked, looking down at where spit and rubber had fallen onto his shirt. 

“Clint take her for me, whatever Brucie decides to do to you is on you now Sofia,” Tony snorted and nudged her away. Sofia went easily, and sat sideways on Clint’s lap so that she was facing Tony who was trying to get everything off of his shirt. The sting in her ass was still bothering her, but Clint had an arm wrapped around her tightly that stopped her from shifting away. 

“Sofia you’re over a hundred and six degrees, you’re going to seize soon,” Bruce said, crouched over her again. He put the back of his hand to her cheek, then at the near blissful look that came over her, cupped her cheek instead. She nuzzled into the gentle hold, and he gave her a tight-lipped smile that was tainted more so by the worry in his scent. 

“Let’s get these tightened Clint, and clipped at the wrists at least, then we can get either some Gatorade or a protein shake in her, maybe even a roll.” He said, his voice calmingly cool and precise even though his eyes maintained that hint of worry. 

“Not hungry,” she grumbled, only for Bruce to patronizingly pat her cheek. Bruce nodded at Clint though, and the blond took her right hand and tightened the cuffs by a notch. Relief flooded through her quickly, and a pleased hum left her as he finished up with the other cuffs and even tightened her collar. 

Her eyes flew to Sam though, who had gotten up and left the room. She whimpered, but Clint patted her flank. Sam came back with Chase, who she didn’t want in her nest, but he didn’t enter so she didn’t mind. 

Chase gave Sam something and then left. Sam stepped over so he left her field of view as well, and he pulled her hands behind her back then clipped something to each of the cuff’s rings. 

At first, Sofia didn’t realize what he’d done and gave a confused tug, wide eyes on Bruce whose brows were furrowed. 

When she got very little give, a drunken smile made its way onto her lips. 

“You like the pull don’t you?” Bruce asked, stroking his thumb along the bridge of her nose. 

“I like kisses,” she said in lieu of an answer and pursed her lips in his direction. Bruce gave her an undignified snort and leaned down obligingly to give her an achingly sweet kiss that she instantly wanted more of. 

“Bruce what the fuck you’re supposed to be the responsible one,” Tony said and pulled Bruce away from her by his hair. As they engaged in an argument that mainly consisted of eye contact, Bucky passed Clint an open bottle of Gatorade. 

The blond pressed it to her lips, and when she didn't take it at first, cajoled her with a, “C’mon Helen, need you to drink.” 

“Wait,” Sofia murmured, remembering what she’d seen a few days ago on TikTok, “Helen Keller’s racist, gotta cancel her.” 

“Can’t cancel a dead woman Sof,” he said and took advantage of her parted lips to slip the spout of the sports bottle into her mouth. 

She started drinking the Gatorade after he squeezed some into her mouth and the taste hit her tongue, but still mumbled, “Racist pig,” around the spout. 

“That bitch,” Clint agreed and tilted the bottle further up at a steady pace. She emptied it quickly, but rather than replace it, he put it down and Bucky nudged a small piece of bread against her lips. 

“There you go,” Bucky near purred, “good omega,” he finished, watching as she finished off the small piece of bread with wide eyes and a purr rumbling from her own chest. 

“Keep eating and we can get you some pain meds alright?” He said, ripping off another piece of bread for her. She nodded sluggishly in agreement, but once she finished the piece of bread, rather than take the next proffered piece, she slipped Bucky’s butter stained thumb into her mouth. 

His thumb was bigger than hers and though not as warm, was far more comforting and tasted of alpha and butter. She gave a pleased little hum, accompanied by a sigh through her nose. 

“Sofia, no,” he sighed and slipped his thumb out of her mouth. 

“Bucky, no,” she retorted and pouted up at the alpha. 

“C’mon now,” he said in a silky smooth voice, then when she didn’t respond to him, added with a hint of an alpha’s command, “ _ eat Sofia _ .” 

She responded eagerly and instantly, with a gasp of shock as the order settled over her and then a sigh of relief at the feeling of restraint it offered. Sofia finished the rest of the buttered roll quickly after that, a peaceful look in her eyes and a small smile on her lips. 

“See doll, now we can get you some meds for those cramps you’ve got,” Bucky said softly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Sofia blinked up owlishly at him, wondering how he’d known about her cramps. 

“How many do you usually take?” Bruce asked her, voice soft and soothing. Her brows furrowed in confusion for a brief second, before she said in a semi-confident slur, “Ten.” 

“Two is a reasonable number,” Bruce countered, but Sofia shook her head. Normally, she’d have to take the pills one by one since she couldn’t see them clearly, and oftentimes wound up losing count of them, but was fairly certain she took a lot more than two. 

“Six.” 

“Two Sofia,” Bruce said, and someone nudged the pills into her mouth. She huffed, but dry swallowed them anyways and insisted, “At least two more, that won’t do nothin’.” 

Bruce didn’t say anything but obligingly slipped another pill between her lips after a second or two. Someone - Clint most likely since he was the one holding her - pushed another Gatorade bottle between her lips. She swallowed enough to properly wash down the medication, then pulled away with a noise of protest in her throat. 

“Don’t like the blue one.”

“All right, let’s try plain water. You need to be hydrated.” Bruce said a little anxiously, and there was a little shuffling before a bottle of water with one of the circular sports spouts on it nudged at her bottom lip. 

“He’s like daddy,” Sofia conspiratorially whispered to Clint, “but not ‘cause he’s smol, but kinda ‘cause he’s doctor, so Dr. Daddy.” 

Clint snorted out a laugh, and rubbed a hand over her side before clutching one of the hands she had restrained behind her back, “Yes, Bruce Banner-Stark, Dr. Daddy.” 

“We stan,” she slurred around the spout of the bottle, before starting to actually drink from it. The water sloshed down her throat easily and took some of the uncomfortable heat from the inside of her mouth. Clint squeezed her hand a bit, and she reciprocated easily. 

At some point, Tony had slipped her feet into his lap and started rubbing them, but it took Sofia a while to realize the pleasurable tingle that was resulting from his gentle ministrations. 

Her toes curled in pleasure and she let out a pleased hum while curling into the warmth the two alphas offered. Tony rubbed at a certain spot on her ankle that made her toes curl and a particularly pleased noise come from somewhere deep in her chest. A flash of heat flared in Tony’s scent, and probably his eyes from how sharp it was. Embarrassed and aroused despite how raw she was, Sofia went to curl inwards a bit in order to escape the heated glances she could feel on her skin. 

“Hey,” Tony chided softly, and tugged an ankle back onto his lap, “you like it?” Sofia nodded into Clint’s neck where she had hidden, water bottle forgotten. 

“Then don’t hide, take what I give you okay?” She didn’t look up at him but put both of her feet back in his lap in acknowledgment. He gave her a reassuring squeeze and a soft yet firm, “Good Sofia.” 

“C’mon let’s shift you over ‘fore Stevie snatches you,” Sofia looked up at Clint, more than comfortable in his embrace, but the alpha just ruffled her hair, lifted her, and dropped her in Steve’s lap. 

Steve made a noise of shock somewhere in his throat, and Sofia looked up at him to sing softly, “Daddy Dorito,” to the tune of some song she’d heard about Danny Davito a few weeks ago. 

“Why would you do that?” 

“I mean, you do look like a Dorito-”

“No, I do not,” Steve argued against Sam, whose face she couldn’t see. 

“Cold.” 

Steve stiffened when she said that, but still managed to put a hand to her side so she couldn’t keep trying to wriggle impossibly closer. 

“I don- can we give her a blanket? She’s still burning up.” Steve’s hands on her sides were tentative but comfortingly warm and deliciously cool at the same time. 

“She’s not cold, her hair is just wet,” Sofia felt a hand run through her hair to accompany Natasha’s words. 

“Where’s your hair stuff kotenok?”

“Get it at RiteAid,” she answered, trying to get closer towards the warmth the large blond offered her. Everything felt slow and heavy, she was oversensitive and her attention kept trying to flit from one thing to another, reminding her why she usually got high and went to sleep to avoid the feeling. 

Steve picked her up by the hips and someone pulled on her left leg so that she was straddling him. Rather than complain at the sudden change in position, she pushed her head into the hollow of his throat so she could press her lips to his scent glands and as close to the mating bites his packmates had left on him as possible. At first, she couldn’t reach, but like Clint had done for her, he curled inwards so that she only had to stretch upwards a little bit. The skin of them was raised and smooth from the scarring and smelled of the others stronger than any other part of his body would. 

The alpha under her released a short, strangled growl from somewhere in his chest that had her empty and sore core clenching around nothing. She scraped her teeth over the area carefully, tentative enough that nothing would happen, but still cause enough for someone to tug her backward by the collar. 

“No biting people without their permission Sofia,” Sam scolded her. She whined, then turned to Steve, “I bite?” 

To her delight, Steve looked like he was going to say yes, but Sam shook her roughly by the collar, “No Sofia you can’t bite him.” 

“Yeah,” she argued, trying to get as much contact with both Sam and Steve as she could at once. She wished Tony was still rubbing her feet, but now she could wrap her legs around Steve tightly so there was at least that. 

“Yeah I bite Steve, he’s mine.” 

“Yeah, all yours.” 

“Sofia,” Sam murmured, crouching in front of her, a hand under the back of her collar to palm her scruff, the other on the back of Steve’s throat, “we’re your’s and you’re ours just gotta wait a bit before we can bite alright?” 

He let her go when she broke eye contact with him, and she pushed her head back into the hollow of Steve’s throat. 

“Wish she’d take the pacifier,” she heard someone murmur, then a hand started to gather her hair and pull it back towards her neck. 

Natasha brushed through her hair gently, then gathered a piece of it near her hairline and started to french braid half of it down her back the repetitive motion calmed both of them, and she tied it off before starting over with the other half of her head. 

“I believe she has fallen asleep.”

Steve shook his head minutely at Thor, and Sofia continued to lick along his neck in small, self-soothing motions. 

Thor gave a small hum and a large, warm hand rubbed the small of her back soothingly. 

“May I?” He asked gently, and it took Sofia a few seconds for her to realize he was asking her rather than Steve. She turned her head to look at him, eyes wide and vision blurry. Thor smiled encouragingly at her and she nodded, only the slightest upwards then downwards tilt of her chin. 

Thor took her affirmative eagerly, reaching out to pull her off of Steve’s lap. Steve wound up having to help maneuver her uncoordinated legs off of him, but it wasn’t long until she sat sideways on Thor’s lap like she’d sat on Clint’s not too long ago. 

He stroked a thumb over her cheekbone firmly enough that it was still gentle but not hesitant. The thumb made its way to her lip, but instead of stroking, this time it pressed against her bottom lip gently. 

Unsure, Sofia looked up at Thor confusedly, but he just gave her another encouraging nod and pressed his thumb firmer against her lip. 

She smiled that wide, dopey smile again, and slipped the thumb into her mouth. It was warm and heavy, warmer than Bucky’s and larger than her own. 

Thor gave her a quiet, rumbling, “Good omega,” that had her squirming on his lap a bit. He shifted his grip to press her jaw shut with his ring and pinky finger on the underside, and his pointer and middle fingers against the side of her face. 

“Settle,” he admonished, and she did, if only to get another quiet  _ good omega _ out of the alpha. She got what was looking for a second after she managed to stop squirming, accompanied by a kiss to her temple between “Good,” and “omega.” 

Tentatively, she sucked his thumb like she’d sucked her own earlier, then once she remembered how Clint had responded the day before, wrapped her tongue around it, and sucked it like a cock. 

Sofia hadn’t sucked many dicks in her life, and the last time she had it was fake so she wasn’t really sure what she was doing. But, her hindbrain was convinced that if she could prove her cock sucking abilities to him then it would get his teeth in her neck. 

“Do what you wish omega, but no one will be fucking you until after your birthday,” Thor whispered into her ear, words dripping with a self-assuredness that made her whimper with need. She couldn’t voice whatever protests she could conjure up with the way he was holding her mouth shut, but made sure to shoot him a disapproving look again. 

“Don’t be a brat,” Bucky said to her from somewhere behind her. 

Stubbornly, Sofia didn’t respond, just continued to suck Thor’s thumb like a cock, as if it had been her intentions all along. 

“We should get some more water into her soon,” Bruce fretted, hand comfortingly cool on her flushed cheek. 

“Don’t worry doll,” Bucky soothed as he pulled Bruce from Sofia gently, “gonna get her smelling perfect an’ healthy ‘fore we go.” 

Sofia forgot what she was supposed to be doing with Thor’s thumb in her mouth as she watched Bucky nuzzle Bruce’s neck lovingly. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/11/20
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> Hey, there isn't a school shooting in this chapter, but if a school shooting would trigger you, go down to the endnotes. I put a brief summary there. You should be able to read that and skip the chapter if you want, or if you just want to be prepared it should work out too.

Sofia didn’t sleep when they left. Another bout of intense heat had come over her and didn’t wear off for hours. She didn’t have much strength to shower once it did, and wedged herself back under her bed next to Mickey.

Her body ached terribly, cramps had formed in her abdomen and it felt like the pain they caused radiated from her lower abdomen and put the area from her hips and thighs down to her toes in pain. If she pressed hard enough on her lower stomach, she could feel it throbbing with her heartbeat. The pain made tears well in her eyes, but her stomach was in no condition to eat anything, and any medication she took would worsen the unease.

No matter which way she laid herself down, she was uncomfortable. Laying on her stomach awoke the soreness in her breasts, and laying down on her back reinforced the ache in her hips. Laying down on her side was the worst though. It put pressure on her hip and pushed her breasts into each other. 

Briefly, she considered taking a few Benadryl pills so sleep would claim her, but she didn’t think she had any and Chase definitely wouldn’t give her. 

The black shirt Tony had been wearing the other day was tucked under a throw pillow just outside of her bed. Her fingers reached for the soft black fabric, and she buried her nose into it. His overwhelming scent helped the psychological ache of being in pain alone, but it didn’t do anything for the actual ache deep in her bones.

As pack alpha, Tony’s individual scent was always thoroughly layered underneath the scent of the others and was hard to pick up if she wasn’t focused on looking for it. After a while, she managed to convince herself that it was helping her, and she dozed a bit with her nose firmly buried into the soft shirt. Still, she didn’t sleep, and before long she came back to herself enough to feel uncomfortable with the dry, sticky slick that coated the insides and backs of her thighs. 

Standing was hard, and her legs were as unsteady as a baby deer’s, but she managed to find a clip to pin the braids that had somehow stayed intact up at the base of her skull. It pulled at her roots uncomfortably, but she only had to deal with it for the duration of her shower. 

Thankfully, the scratchy towel she’d used earlier that morning wasn’t coated in slick and sweat like her preferred one still was, so she was able to use it after her shower. Her poor favorite towel was on the ground in her room lifelessly, and she’d used it to dry up slick to the point that it was stiff with it.

She brushed her teeth once she was done in the shower and felt a little more human once her mouth tasted like her charcoal toothpaste. Tony’s soft black shirt that she’d slept with was still rolled up in a ball halfway under her bed, and the strong scent of alpha clinging to it seemed to call her name as she stood dumbly in the entrance to her room. She pulled it on, then unclipped her hair. The braids fell down her back and were beyond repair with bumps protruding. She had gotten a brief glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, and knew that her hair looked like a catastrophe. 

Rather than fight a losing battle, she unraveled them, momentarily forgetting that she would have annoyingly bouncy hair once she did. 

Predictably, the comical look framed her face once she had unraveled the braids. She didn’t have any reason to look presentable though, so she tied the mess in a messy bun on her head. It took care of the mess that was her hair, but only marginally. 

Her phone told her it was only a little past three in the afternoon, so there wasn’t much she could do to pass the time between waves of heat. Her head was shockingly clear, and she wasn’t too tired now that she had showered. The instinct to nest was strong, so rather than go and bother anyone else or go to the pups she desperately wanted to see, she put her phone to charge and tried to tidy up her room a bit. 

She worked easily, guided by instinct and perfectionist ideals. Just as her room looked more like a nest than an uncontrolled wardrobe spillage, her lights started to flash on and off. 

Sofia froze, mentally running through all the possible options of what would happen next. During all of their shooter drills, the lights in the omegas’ rooms would flash on and off repeatedly, unaccompanied by the loud bells over the intercoms in the living room like in a fire drill. 

The government had started up the shooter drills when Sofia was still in elementary school so they were routine for her, but a nagging feeling at the back of her head told her something different as she went to check if her door had been locked electronically to if she needed to lock it manually. 

It had been locked electronically, which she wasn’t sure was a good sign. Whether it would be locked electronically or not wasn’t something that the omegas knew about beforehand though, so she didn’t look too much into it. 

She grabbed her phone from where it was charging on the floor near where her desk usually was. She had gotten a couple hundred likes on the TikTok she posted the other day and wanted to clear the notifications. Her phone died before she got the chance though since it had just turned on.

Sofia gave an annoyed huff of air and leaned back against the wall behind her. The heat cramps were starting to lose the throbbing sensation that they’d had before, and she was losing the startling clarity she’d had when she woke up. It wasn’t long before the heat kicked back in again, either putting her back in the same drunken haze as the morning before or in full force.

The light in her room hadn’t started flashing again which meant that the drill was still ongoing so she couldn’t leave her room even if she wanted to. With no way to keep the time, she went to pick at some of the heat snacks that had been left for her. Her stomach was insanely uneasy, and she didn’t want to eat anything. She forced herself to swallow a few bites of a protein bar regardless and wound up gagging once the taste hit her tongue. She finished a little less than half of it before a chocolate chip fell onto the floor and into her nest. 

It was when she was looking around on her floor for the stray chocolate chip that she realized what the nagging thought in the back of her mind was. 

The orphanage didn’t do shooter drills when someone was in heat, it threw their success chance off too much, and could mess with a heat cycle to a lethal degree. 

“Oh,” she mumbled and started looking blearily around the room. When she was around ten or so she’d made a plan for this situation, how to hide, how to block the door, and everything. Now though, her furniture was all pushed to one side and her muscles had such a deep ache in them that she didn’t think she would be able to move anything. 

There was no way she’d be able to hide in the closet with the door shut tightly like ten year Sofia had promised herself she would. 

“Well, I mean I’ve always wanted to die,” she commented, chest tightening in panic and heart racing. It was true, there had been a time when she’d nearly killed herself, remembered her plan down to the finest points, and thought of implementing it even now when times got rough. But she had only wanted it like this once, when she’d watched those videos on SnapChat of the Parkland shooting and had wished she was one of the dead if only so she didn’t have to live in a world where the adults didn’t do anything but stand by and criticized survivors that fought so it wouldn’t happen to anyone else. Even worse, when the survivors protested for gun reform, they fought to end school shootings, not the constant threat of attack that orphanages in America had been under since the great depression. 

She could see it now, the image of the shooter breaking down her door and firing blindly in her direction, the image blurred and mashed with the sounds of the guns shooting at those students on Valintine’s day years ago.

He probably would have killed that nasty secretary on the first floor, and more likely than not one of the sixth graders. There had only been two drills since the school year started, and they would have frozen in fear even worse than she did. They probably wouldn’t even remember to lock their doors, no matter how much their Den Alpha had emphasized the necessity to double check that they locked. 

Sofia never knew why they thought a locked door would do anything against a gun, but most of the Den Alphas in the past few years had been ex-military so if anyone knew it would be them. Each and every one of them had probably shot down a door just as easily as the shooter would.

Their status as ex-military wasn’t something she thought of often, but she did now. They would probably rush to try and take him down, she knew Chase would. 

She didn’t know how much of their training they remembered, but a sinking feeling in her gut told her that in a situation like this it wouldn’t do much good anyhow. 

Jasmine would have taken all of the babies from the nursery and elementary school down into the tunnels by now, hiding the orphanage’s most vulnerable from harm. The image of her carrying all of the pups should have been comical, but Sofia had no doubt that she would find a way to do it. 

There was probably a bottle of something still left from Jolene’s party down there, and it more likely than not smelt of stale booze. She wondered if Jasmine would yell at what survived of them afterward, or if one of the pups would stumble on the fermented jungle juice and shout, inevitably setting off the others. Their carelessness and inability to clean up after themselves could have just killed Jasmine and the pups. 

Someone was banging on her door, shouting obscenities at someone else, and trying to break the door down. Sofia saw it again even as she approached the door, a faceless shooter with her friends’ blood splattered all over him. But, she also saw Jordan or Ethan or anyone else banging on her door, bleeding out near death, and she’d rather get shot by the faceless male behind her door than let her friends bleed out while leaning against it.

It was Chase on the other side, a carefully crafted look in his eyes that was made obsolete by the tremor in his hands. What she could see of his clothes was covered in blood, and she barely heard him over the roar of her heart. 

“The pup, Sofia take the baby, I- I’ll come get you when it’s safe,” he said, words bordering on an alpha’s order. She snapped her arms out instantly and probably said something to him, but he just pushed the baby into her arms and ordered her to block the door. 

Daniel, the unusually pudgy newborn was flailing in her arms, crying that low, almost silent cry that everyone knew him for. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” she soothed. She wasn’t sure if it was for herself or Daniel, but it didn’t seem to soothe either of them. 

He kept crying, even as she bounced him around and stared at the door. Chase had said to block it, but she didn’t know if anyone would need somewhere to run to, and she couldn’t have something like that on her conscience. 

She couldn’t hear any gunshots though, hadn’t this whole time so she guessed whoever it was had put a silencer on.

“But silencers make noise too,” she told the bloody baby, lungs constricting around the smell of distressed pup that had flooded the room. 

“I don’t- I don’t know what he has,” she continued to mutter and slipped the pup a small crumb of chocolate that she tore off of a chocolate bar. 

The newborn flinched, overwhelmed by the unhealthy substance she’d given to him in an effort to calm him down. It worked though, and quickly Daniel was smacking his gums and looking up at her wide-eyed. 

She knelt on the ground of her nest and pulled the bloody onesie from his body. A pup didn’t need to see what he’d probably seen, and she thought that maybe if she scrubbed him hard enough with the baby wipes, she could wipe it from his mind. 

His skin was pink when she finished with him, and there was a pile of bloody wipes in the corner but she’d gotten most of the blood off of his small pale body. Somewhere in the nest was a baby blanket, and she left him leaning up against her Stitch so she could go look for it. 

It was on the wall where her bed had been, tucked into the foundation of the nest. Pulling it free made some other things tumble out, so she quickly pushed them back into place and rushed back to swaddle Daniel. 

“Yeah, yeah that works, lets see if we fit here,” she said hurriedly and wedged herself and the pup underneath her bed, Daniel on the inside towards the wall. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” she repeated unnecessarily, and put another small piece of chocolate in the pup’s mouth. He had stopped crying, but with the sugar in his system and the scent of her fear in his nose, he wouldn’t sleep anytime soon. 

He had little blond tufts of hair that she buried her nose in. It smelt like blood, and fear, and pain, but it still smelt like a physically unharmed pup. 

Around her, the air was thick with tension and fear. Something was building up. She wished it wouldn’t, and didn’t know what it would mean, and just wanted it all to be over. 

Then, the sound of something rapid filled the thick, tense air. 

The sound confirmed her fear and made her realize why she’d been wondering what he was carrying. Sofia didn’t know anything about guns, but she knew that the strange repetitive sound was from an automatic weapon that no one should have even been able to  _ get _ in New York. 

Daniel started crying again, and this time her tears fell too. She curled herself around the baby as much as she could. Her hands shook too much to try and give him the small pieces of chocolate that were keeping him calm, but she doubted anything would help at this point. She had to pull her nose from his hair and bite on her lip to stop herself from sobbing loudly. 

“No one’s screaming,” she gasped to herself, blurry vision made worse by the onslaught of tears that she was powerless against. Her mouth was filled with blood and it tasted like she’d licked a penny. She didn’t know if the lack of screaming was a good thing. To her, it either meant that they were all already dead, or that somehow everyone had managed to hide. 

She really, really, hoped it was the latter. 

Someone banged on her door again. Sofia stiffened where she was, and slowly extracted herself from the pup’s back. She hastily placed a few pillows near the spot where she had been, and managed to hide Daniel from plain sight, but couldn’t stop the way his cries were so quietly sounding around the room. 

“Please don’t kill the baby,” she whispered as she inched closer to the door. The banging had slowed down, but a “Sofia, Sofia let me in,” got her to open the door quickly even with her shaking hands. 

“He’s gone, he-he shot ‘imself, he’s gone,” Chase reassured himself, and nearly collapsed onto Sofia. 

“Okay, okay,” she pulled him in towards the center of her still too large nest, and he stumbled before he  _ did _ collapse, eyes turned toward the spot under her bed where Daniel was crying for help. 

Chase was covered in blood, and a lot of it. It was the worst around his side though, and when she pulled his shirt up she could tell he was bleeding from there. 

Sofia knew she was supposed to put pressure on the wound, and she scrambled to find something, hands so bloody it looked like she was the one bleeding. She found a soft, ugly orange sweater she’d stolen from Rose a year or two ago, and balled it up to press against his wound. Rose would probably be mad at her for staining it if she found out. Sofia didn’t really care. 

She was shouting for help, covering up both Chase’s delirious mutterings and Daniel’s crying at once. 

There was a sewing kit in her dresser, but she didn’t have the right thread for this and didn’t know the right way to sew a person’s body. Even worse, she couldn’t hear anyone and didn’t know if help was coming or not. 

“Chase, I don’t know what to do,” she said, only for Chase to look up at her blearily and try to push her hand away. 

“Help, Sofia get help,” he half slurred, nowhere near strong enough to dislodge the way she was pushing the now blood soaked sweater on his bleeding side. 

“No,” she said to herself more than to Chase, shaking her head vehemently, “not gonna leave you, not gonna-” She cut herself to press on his side harder. He’d only been shot once, which was good. There weren’t any other visible wounds on him that she noticed when she had enough mind to look. 

“I- I gotta roll you over, right? Gotta check if it came out or it’s inside?” Chase didn’t respond, and she didn’t roll him over either. If it had gone through it was good, but if it didn’t she had no clue how to dig it out. 

Sofia didn’t want to have to decide how to get the bullet out of him. 

“The doc’ll figure that out when we get you to ‘im.”

Chase’s hand fell limply from where he’d been pushing her, and his mouth stopped forming words. His eyes were halfway shut and mouth open. There was blood all over his face, and Sofia knew it wasn’t his, but wasn’t sure she wanted to know who it belonged to either. 

“What-what’s going on, Chase?” She pushed as hard as she could with the bloody sweater, then pulled something else over to her with one hand so she could switch it out. He’d stopped bleeding for the most part, which should be a good sign, but she wasn’t sure. His eyes were a little more open, but they looked blank as if he was asleep. 

“That’s good, I think I- is it good Chase?” She asked, her hands were going numb, and Chase wasn’t answering but she guessed he’d just passed out from the blood loss which was bad, but not terrible. People passed out from blood loss all the time and still managed to wake up. There was also the strong possibility that he’d passed out from the pain, which was bad, but not terrible. If anything, there was probably a transfusion with his name on it at Methodist already. 

It felt like she knelt there for hours, pressing what was once a blue cardigan into Chase’s side. She kept quietly reassuring the both of them and shouted every few minutes. 

“You’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay, we- we just need a doctor,” she mumbled, then looked up towards the door to shout again, “help, we need  _ help _ in here, fuck,” Chase still wasn’t talking, and she didn’t know what would happen if she tried to rouse him to consciousness. 

Natasha was standing in her doorway, hands held up placatingly, a palm open, the other holding a gun that she easily holstered. The tightness in her chest eased, Natasha wouldn’t have come here alone, and the Avengers could fix whatever they put their mind to. Even better, they were the Stark Pack. They would help her and get Chase to the best doctor in the world. 

“T-Tasha you gotta get ‘im help,” she babbled, and had to sniffle a bit before she was able to continue, “the bleeding slowed a bit but he needs help.” 

“Sofia,” she started to walk towards her slowly, and she was wearing shoes in the nest but that was okay because Chase had his on too, “Sofia, kitten he isn’t breathing.” 

“It’s okay,” she continued in a low smooth voice, and knelt next to her, “I’m gonna make sure,” she said and pressed two fingers to Chase’s bloody neck, after a second she continued, “look kitten, I did it, I checked for you. There’s no pulse, lets get you and the pup out of here.” 

Sofia’s eyes snapped towards where she’d hidden Daniel under her bed, but then quickly back down to Chase, “Yeah, yeah get the pup, but I- I can’t leave him. He’s  _ okay, _ he just needs a doctor right?” 

Natasha shook her head slowly and started to try and pull Sofia’s hands off of Chase, “Sofia he isn’t breathing, a doctor can’t help him now.” 

She shook her head vehemently in denial. He was  _ Chase, _ he was always okay. He had to be okay. He couldn’t die, and especially not like this. He was supposed to leave his job before he was forty, find a nice omega and have pups with his curls and the omega’s sense of humor. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Natasha look up at something, then continued to gently pry her hands off of the ruined cardigan. 

“Thor is going to get you out of here while I get the pup because he can’t fit under your bed. It was a smart place to put him, you did good Sofia,” Natasha praised gently, and stopped trying to move her to rub her back a bit. Thor must have come up behind her because he was on her other side, crouched as low as possible but still towering over her. 

“Thor,” she gasped in relief, “Thor you gotta- you gotta help me she’s- she doesn’t believe me, but he just needs a doctor, I promise, he just needs blood cause he lost a lot,” she looked up into his frighteningly blue eyes pleadingly in search of reassurance that he wouldn’t give. 

“Come darling,” he said instead, and she had to listen even though it wasn’t the truth, it wasn’t what she needed to hear, “let us get you outside.”

“No, Thor c’mon he just-” she protested, but he’d pulled her hands away and towards her body firmly enough that she barely noticed and was pulling her away from where Chase was laying on the ground. 

“Thor, Thor I can’t leave him,” she half-shouted, heart roaring so fiercely in her chest that it was all she could hear. Her voice had cracked, too overworked from shouting for help that came only to not believe her. Hot tears were pouring down her face, and she flailed as much as she could but the steel band around her that was Thor’s arms didn’t budge a bit. 

Chest to her back, Thor made a soothing noise that was more a rumbling purr than anything, meant to put her more instinctual side at ease. It didn’t work, if anything it made it worse as she flailed and kicked. 

Natasha was standing, cradling a still crying Daniel, and for a split second, part of her realized that he would hurt himself if he kept on. 

“Yeah, look Sofia,” Natasha crooned softly, showing her Daniel’s red stained face. Had she not cleaned him earlier, he’d have been bloodier than the day he was born, “Look, you saved him, you kept him safe all that time. You did good.” 

Thor stood, grip still uncomfortably firm around her waist, and Sofia sniffled and shook her head a bit, “Chase, we can’t leave Chase.” 

“We’re not, we’re not Sofia, I give you my word,” Thor said softly, “I will come back for him myself, but we need to get you outside. You can’t stay here darling.” 

Sofia shook her head again. No one was putting pressure on Chase’s wound and he couldn’t afford to lose any more blood before they got him to a doctor. 

Natasha nodded at Thor, and he started to move, shifting his grip on her so that he could get a more comfortable grasp on Sofia. Once it registered in her mind that they were moving, she started shouting at them again. They were just leaving Chase on the ground, they weren’t doing anything to help him at all. 

On the way to the elevator, she fought as hard as she could until something caught her eye. 

It was a dark skinned, bloody lump on the sofa that wasn’t moving at all. Sofia’s breathing picked up again to the point where it was probably an asthma attack. The lump on the sofa was too small to be Ethan and too dark to be some of the other omegas that were at the orphanage, so she knew it was Jordan. 

Thor shifted his hold on her again once they got into the elevator and pressed her face into the skin of his neck. He tried to get her to wrap her legs around him, but he was holding enough of her weight that she didn’t have to so she didn’t. 

She shook her head again, not wanting to be distracted by the onslaught of his scent that she would get once she inhaled. She needed to get back to Chase, he’d already lost too much blood. Uselessly, she hit his shoulders in an attempt to get away. If he would just put her down, she could go back and get Chase, she could find someone that would fucking listen to her. Almost just as bad, Jordan was just a dead lump on the sofa now, all alone and isolated from people. A few years ago, when Jordan had been taken from her family, she hadn’t even been able to sleep alone in the room alone for almost a month. When she did, it was only out of pure exhaustion. 

Jordan hated being alone more than anything else in the world. It was probably the reason that she’d been sitting on the sofa with the baby. Now though, she was all alone in her spot on the bloody couch. 

Daniel was still crying, probably because he knew they were leaving Chase to die, or because he knew Jordan was all alone and would hate it. 

Thor was making that rumbling purr still, and Sofia couldn’t hold her breath for long, but even the onslaught that met her when she inhaled wasn’t enough. 

“Thor, we gotta go back, we gotta- for Chase, and Jordan. Jordan doesn’t like being alone Thor, we can’t leave ‘er alone.”

Thor didn’t say anything to her though, just rumbled a bit more and started walking again. He laid her down on something hard, and she shook violently. She had to get back upstairs to Jordan and Chase. 

“I- are you sure?” She heard Tony’s voice ask, and she looked up blearily to search for the alpha. He was standing in a bloody Iron Man suit, talking to what looked like a paramedic. 

The paramedic, either a beta male or an alpha male, she wasn’t sure, just nodded, and approached her with a large needle in his hand. 

“No, no I don’t want that- Tony tell him I don’t want that,” she cried out, and tried to inch away, but Thor’s hands were on her hips and the front of her neck. All she could do was kick and flail as the paramedic pulled up the shirt she was wearing to expose her hip. 

“It’s not the heat stopper, just a sedative. They’ve gotta get you to a hospital and if you seize they’re gonna have to stop it.” Tony reassured her and crouched down so he could smooth a hand over her forehead. 

“Tony, they weren’t listening to me,” she beseeched, “you gotta go upstairs.” 

He didn’t say anything though, just did his best to keep her eyes off of the comically large needle that the paramedic was about to put into her hip. She felt it when it finally slid in though, but just kept looking up at Tony, tears falling from her eyes as she tried to get him to listen to her. 

“All right, let’s get her on a gurney,” the paramedic said. This close, she could tell from his scent that he was a beta. Thor picked her back up, then she was lowered onto something else. The sheets under her were scratchy, and her head felt hazy. 

Daniel had finally stopped crying. He was curled up in Jasmine’s arms as another paramedic looked over him for injuries that Sofia knew didn’t exist. 

She felt a bump, and then a second bump before the back of a gloved hand touched her forehead. 

“Shit, temp’s not going down,” the beta above her shouted to someone. Sofia whimpered at the loud noise and felt her brain fog up further. 

“Get over here, she’s seizing,” she distantly heard him shout again. Wherever she was, it smelt weird, and she wanted to throw up the half a protein bar she’d eaten. Everything was so stiff though, she knew she wouldn’t be able to go and get Chase like she needed to. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in this chapter, a shooter comes into the orphanage. As of right now, it is confirmed that he killed Jordan and Chase. Sofia was hiding in her room with baby Daniel and wound up being with Chase as he died since he comes into her room after the shooter kills himself. There are also mentions of suicidal thoughts, and Sofia mentions that she briefly wished she had died in the Parkland School shooting a few years ago so she wouldn't have to live in a world where no one cared about mass shootings. At the end of the chapter, Natasha and Thor come into her room to bring out her and Daniel. The chapter ends with Sofia having a grand mal seizure. 
> 
> There is officially an end in sight for this story. I have it planned that the last chapter will be either her birthday or a day or two after. It should be posted before Christmas but I won't promise anything. I also have a part two planned where we'll see the way they interact with each other on a daily basis. 
> 
> So sorry for the super long a/n, but as always let me know what you think and if you have any ideas.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/12/20-4/13/20

Tony had known she was small, not just compared to an alpha, but  _ small. _ Sure, in general, she was pretty tall for an omega, but she was at least ten or twenty pounds underweight. Recently though, he could have sworn she’d been putting on some weight. Maybe it was because she’d stopped with all the drugs, or maybe it was just some stroke of luck, but her cheeks had been just the slightest bit fuller, and her hips had rounded themselves out a little more. 

Still, whatever weight she’d put on had been lost into the abyss, and she looked so, so small. 

She had also been on behavioral suppressants, which meant that when she should have been stuffing her face with preheat cravings, she wouldn’t have the slightest of an appetite. Clint and Natasha had confirmed that much when they’d come back to the tower the other day. 

Looking at the way that Bucky had her back tightly pressed up against his chest, Tony nearly forgot the way she usually bounced around with life. 

Sofia had been crying in her sleep, and jerking unpredictably. Tony had pulled all the strings he could, but to move her from the overcrowded hospital wouldn’t do any more good than this was doing, and the board refused to give Bruce temporary hospital privileges. 

Not that there was much Bruce could even do to help her. She’d been sedated for the entirety of the night before and all day. 

Aside from whatever was left in her system from when she’d eaten last, the fluids in the IV were the only form of nutrients in her. 

Tony hated that he was a little relieved at that. He didn’t know how to tell her the Den Alpha had been dead for at least a half an hour when the ME arrived, having rushed in nearly as soon as Natasha and Thor had gotten her out of the room. He also didn’t know how to tell her that he’d been trying to find her friend’s mom and let her use one of his planes to bring her family over for the funeral, or that he was pretty sure the friend’s mom didn’t know she was dead. 

He didn’t know how to tell her about the boy down the hall that kept forcing his future mate to no so inconspicuously walk down the hall and glance at Sofia. Hell, he didn’t even know what to tell the boy or the alpha, so he very carefully avoided eye contact with either of them. 

Worst of all, they didn’t know when she’d wake up. 

Sure, the doctors should be able to stop sedating her in an hour or two, since her natural heat cycle had almost completely passed, but for a heat to be interrupted as violently as hers had been, he knew the chances of her physically or mentally recovering anytime soon were slim. 

She was wearing a thin paper gown, and a nurse came in every few hours to change her slick pad and check her vitals. The doctor had put some cuffs on her the night before, and her neck was glaringly bare because they hadn’t been able to get the stench of fear out of her collar without dousing it in cleansing chemicals that stunk more than they cleansed. 

She had a few wires coming off of her chest that were monitoring her heart and probably a few other things. There were more wires protruding from her arms that connected to the IV port. 

Next to the IV bag was a bag filled with artificial hormones that were supposed to be trying to end her heat quickly without jarring her system too much. It the easiest possible treatment, but would still leave her jarred, disoriented, and less herself than he’d ever seen her. 

The paramedic had needed to inject her with a toxic mix of chemicals and hormones on the short ride to the hospital that stopped her heat long enough to start bringing down her temperature after the fever seizure had started. But in stopping the heat for that short amount of time, he’d completely ruined whatever chance she had at finishing the heat organically. Tony was told she’d been coherent for all of five minutes before the original sedative had kicked in and she fell asleep. 

It left the doctors with no other option but to keep her on a similar cocktail to stop her heat from starting back up. Even after the doctor released her, there’d be a chance of her going into heat randomly for a few days. 

Tony looked up towards where Sofia was curled up tightly on the bed. Bucky was purring a bit, and Tony knew it was more to self-soothe than anything. There weren’t any signs that it was bothering Sofia though, and it hopefully soothed whatever part of her unconscious it reached, so he didn’t try to intervene. 

Clint came in with a tray of coffees balanced in one hand and a brown paper bag from Starbucks in the other. His blond mate’s nerves were frazzled, so Tony had been sending him on small errands when he could, and making sure to hold him as much as possible when he couldn’t. 

Bruce was out in the hall talking to a nurse, probably trying to convince one of the medical staff members to listen to him for the umpteenth time. So far, the head nurse on the floor had taken his opinions into account, but the doctors were adamant that his lack of hospital privileges made him an idiot. Tony was certain that if it had been anyone other than his sweet tempered mate, they’d have gotten into a fistfight with the doctors. Still, he’d found himself ready to get up and defend his mate each time the doctors crossed the border from rude to disrespectful. 

Tasha acted like she was fine, but her side of the mating bond was near completely closed off, and he didn’t know how to approach her. He was pretty sure she was back at the orphanage with Pepper, settling legal matters. Tony knew that his second would call if she needed something, and would be back when she was ready. He just couldn’t help but wish she was here.

Thor had quietly offered to take her to Asgard for medical treatment, but she would hate them all if she missed the funeral because of the different passages of time. If she didn’t wake up soon though, Tony was willing to risk her ire and take her. 

Of course, it would just be easier to bring the Asgardian medicine to her, but the state wouldn’t let them take Sofia home, and the hospital refused to sign off on it. 

Tony was half sure that Natasha was about to sneak out to Asgard and slip the medication to her when no one was watching. 

He accepted the cup that Clint passed him, but shook his head to decline the piece of pound cake that Clint pulled out of the bag. Clint shook his head in response, and Tony knew he was doing his best, so he took the offering, but didn’t eat it right away. 

Steve was standing in the corner, bright blue eyes frazzled, and leaning into Thor’s imposing form behind him. Without Bruce and Tasha there, the room wasn’t too cramped, but even though it was the biggest room in the heat ward, it was still small. 

Honestly, it was a surprise Methodist even had a room for her. Their heat ward was basically nonexistent, and according to Bruce had archaic methods. 

Thor didn’t drink coffee, so Clint went over to offer the last of the four to Bucky. 

At the last second, Clint shook his head, and offered quietly, “I’ll take ‘er Buck.” 

Bucky hesitated before he nodded, and Clint clumsily put the coffee and bagel he’d gotten him on the bedside table so he could hold up Sofia. When Bucky stood up, he switched places with Clint so that the blond could sit where Bucky had been. 

Sofia flailed around before Clint got a good grasp on her, but still didn’t really settle until he put his wrist under her nose. Tony almost flinched when she opened her wide purple eyes and stared up at Clint like he was the monster under her bed. 

She closed her eyes quickly though, and Tony wanted to say something that he didn’t have the words for. Bruce and the head nurse saved him from putting his foot in his mouth by walking in quickly. 

The nurse walked in first, with Bruce right behind her, a cup of tea in his hand. It seemed that Bruce had won whatever argument they’d had, and she walked over to mess with one of the bags on the pole, then pinched the back of Sofia’s hand. 

The nurse and Bruce wordlessly made eye contact, and Tony’s eyes tracked the elasticity of Sofia’s skin the same way Bruce and the nurse had, but he only knew this on paper. He was no help at an actual bedside, and he knew it. 

It was why he sat there, left to shower and sleep a bit at the apartment Tasha had found them, and fought with the state as hard as he could so that he could put Sofia on their insurance. The state wasn’t budging though, and Tony didn’t know if it was because they didn’t want people to think they let him because of his money, or because they held some sort of grudge against him. What he did know, was that if he could put her on his insurance they could get her to a SHIELD hospital where they could give her all the Asgardian medication in the fucking world. 

“What’d she do?” Tony asked as he took the first sip of his coffee, having unconsciously neglected it. The nurse had left, and Bruce was looking at the monitors like they held the secret to life. 

It was too sweet for him and tasted more like Steve’s so he held the cup up over his shoulder. Steve didn’t understand at first but switched out their cups after a second. 

Tony took a sip of the second coffee. It was his this time. 

“We’re gonna try decreasing what she’s getting. It isn’t a coma ‘cause she’s in and out, so it should work. If her body needs water badly enough, her instinct will take control and wake her up,” he looked to Clint, who was holding Sofia. She hadn’t had another seizure thankfully. The nurses had kept up a steady supply of Tylenol in her system, but her skin was still clammy, and she smelt like heat, pain, and fear. 

“I thought her hindbrain was the problem,” Steve piped up from behind him. 

“Well yeah,” Bruce admitted, now comfortably caged in by Bucky’s arms, “but if we can get her awake, the plan is just try to stimulate her. Hindbrains aren’t very vocal, so to respond to us she’ll have to come back to herself a bit.” 

“Oh, that makes sense,” Clint muttered, not looking at any of them, “why- why didn’t-”

“We couldn’t,” Bruce soothed, “if we had tried to wake her up before her temperature was down and most of the heat had passed, probably would have had another seizure. We’re doing everything right, the skin contact is probably the best thing we can do.” 

Clint didn’t say anything, just wrapped his free around her. He was seven feet tall, taller than Tony, and he looked almost as small as Sofia did in that bed. 

Bruce hadn’t said how long it would take for her consciousness to come back fully, or if they would need to sedate her again if it didn’t work.

Tony didn’t ask. He’d done the research, knew that Bruce was thinking of asking about that particular treatment. The success rates for it were less than optional and highly dependent on the more uncontrollable details. 

He knew that the others probably knew too, he was just really glad Bruce hadn’t said it out loud. 

~~~~

T0ny didn’t know why Natasha wouldn’t hold her, but she’d come in and stand in the room with them, or sit somewhere she wasn’t supposed to. She’d be sarcastic, exchange a few quips, then go and keep busy with whatever Pepper had planned for them. 

The shooting had only happened not much more than twenty-four hours ago, and still, it felt like it’d been years since everything had changed. 

Later, in the dead of night when they had forced everyone else to the apartment, Natasha curled up by herself in the chair and stare enviously at him as he tried to hold Sofia while she cried. She still hadn’t woken up, even as they steadily decreased the amount of fluids she was getting through the IV. The night nurse had come in an hour ago to tell them that if Sofia didn’t wake up soon, she’d dehydrate and they’d need to up the amount of fluids again. 

Sofia was the only one that slept that night, and eventually Tony had to carefully extract himself from around her so he could use the bathroom. His legs were stiff, there was a twitch in his ankle that he only really felt when it rained, and he left the door open just in case Sofia woke up while he was gone. 

When he was done, he washed his hands and went back into the room to see that Natasha had gotten into the hospital bed, and was sat with Sofia. She was sat next to her and had both arms wrapped around her. Her shoes had been discarded and were carefully placed just under the bed. 

Carefully, Tony made eye contact with her. Natasha didn’t say anything, just shrugged nonchalantly. He took her old spot on the chair and started looking through his unread messages. He didn’t respond to most of them but did to a few from the pack and Pepper. 

A gentle, insistent tugging at the mating bond woke him up, also making him aware that he’d fallen asleep. 

Sofia was looking up at Natasha with confusion written all over her face and scent. 

“The baby Tash,” he heard her insist, voice harsh from disuse, “he’s under the bed I gotta get him so we can get him to Jasmine.” 

“No, no Sofia,” Natasha was trying to soothe, “Sofia it’s April thirteenth, really early in the morning. Jasmine has the baby, you got him to her already.” 

Tony stood up and walked over to them so he could stand on Sofia’s free side and put a hand on her shoulder. Her back was to him, but it didn’t stop her from turning to look at him with scared, unseeing eyes. 

“The baby’s safe,” Natasha continued as Tony stroked a hand over Sofia’s cheek. 

“The baby’s safe,” Sofia said, voice shaky. She turned her cheek into Tony’s hand, wriggled a bit where she was on the bed, and closed her eyes again. 

“Do you?” Tony asked, not knowing anything of substance to say, and not knowing if Natasha would want to stay with her anymore. In all his years on this God-forsaken planet, he still hadn’t learned what to say at the right time. 

Natasha shook her head, and Tony stood where he was for another second, and brushed a kiss over Natasha’s temple before going back to the stiff, uncomfortable chair. 

Still, they didn’t sleep, and after another twenty minutes of tense silence, Sofia opened blank purple eyes and looked up at the ceiling. 

“Hello,” Natasha greeted her gently. Tony didn’t say anything to her, not wanting to overwhelm her accidentally. 

Sofia didn’t say anything, as Bruce had predicted, but she turned in towards Natasha and whined. Tony knew that they were supposed to be firm with her, try to talk to her enough to garner a response, but when Natasha looked at him for direction, he just shook his head. 

There was no need to push her just yet. 

Natasha didn’t nod or anything, but from the way she tightened her hold around the whining omega, he knew she’d understood him. 

His redheaded mate was good with intimacy, but only so long as it was either sexual or initiated by someone else. She tended to leave the heavier emotions to be dealt with by Sam, unless whoever it was had a dire need for intervention, though that was something that they all did. 

“You’re okay,” she soothed as she put a hand over the back of Sofia’s neck to try and settle her. 

Sofia wasn’t really crying though, just making little, incoherent sounds that told Tony’s hindbrain his teeth in her neck would be enough to fix. The sad part was, that it was all Tony’s hindbrain could come up with, and he didn’t know how to tell his primal side that sex would only make this worse. 

Shit, the poor girl wasn’t even allowed to be alone for the sole purpose of stopping her from  _ masturbating _ of all things. 

He went to get one of the generic boxes of single-serve cereal that the doctor had left for when Sofia woke up. He grabbed that and a bottle of room temperature water with the little sports spout that she’d be able to drink from easily. 

“Hey Sofia,” he cajoled as gently as he could. She turned to look at him with wide eyes, and it clicked in his brain that the noises she’d been making weren’t exactly sad. 

Rather than sad, she looked incredibly confused, like she was in indescribable pain, and very much like she was about to jump on either him or Natasha.

“Let’s have some water okay?” He asked, carefully maintaining eye contact with her. She bared her teeth, but even though he knew she couldn’t see him well, he knew she felt the weight and thread of making eye contact with him well enough. 

She broke eye contact with him like he thought she would, and he sat on the edge of the bed, then as carefully as he could, nudged the open water bottle against her lips. 

It made something in him howl in pride, even as his forebrain cursed him for scaring the poor, small little thing. 

To his relief, she started drinking the water greedily, and he tried to communicate with Tasha as silently as he could. 

His redhead just looked like she was about to laugh at the incredulity of the situation.

Sofia had gone from a hysterical mess to a near coma, back around, and now she was just horny. 

Tony wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or to cry. 

~~~~

Sofia wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. 

Her insides felt like they were on fire, everything ached and burned, and she just wanted to go back to sleep. Clint kept trying to get her to talk to him, and the Cheerios that they fed her were bland. 

“Okay, at this point more Cheerios might count as domestic abuse. How about we try blueberries?” Steve said to Clint over her shoulder, and she could smell the forced excitement wafting off of him. Had she been further away, she’d have confused it with a genuine feeling, but this up close she could detect the strained undertones. 

It was like a warm apple pie that had been reheated in the microwave, not heated up correctly, but still warm enough to melt the vanilla ice cream that was going to be put on top of it. 

She was going to punch Steve, his falsely annoyingly optimistic demeanor included. 

Clint waggled his eyebrows and held out a blueberry, slowly inching it towards her mouth. 

Sofia growled and snapped her teeth at his hand. He sighed through his nose and turned his head towards Tony. Steve tightened his arms around her, and she tried to curl back into him. 

He smelt like warm, alpha apple pie with a hint of cinnamon, and definitely better than blueberries, even though he was still annoyingly, falsely,  _ optimistic. _

“Do we not like blueberries? I mean I personally find myself a bit iffy on them, but-” 

Clint cut himself off when Sofia shook her head minutely. She didn’t like blueberries, but even if she did, it was too bright in the room, and Clint’s rambling made her ears buzz uncomfortably. 

“So no blueberries? Perfectly fine. I’m pretty sure we’ve got other shit you could eat,” he paused, then turned to the tray that the nurse had brought in earlier, “we could cut up these pancakes, but they look a kinda like rubber. Do you want me to see what Tasha could bring? She’s on her way here, and won’t be too long.” 

Sofia squirmed in discomfort a bit, and tried for the umpteenth time to melt back into Steve, but eventually grumbled out, “Coffee,” the singular word burned her raw throat. Clint looked pleasantly surprised when she said it though, and some of the forced happiness leeched out of Steve. A genuine sense of contentment replaced it, and to Sofia, it smelled far more soothing. 

“Oh shit, yeah we could do that- I could- I’ll just- I’ll tell Tasha to grab it okay?” Clint stammered out and smoothed a hand over her cheek. Sofia sighed and tilted her nose towards his inner wrist so she could take in his scent. He obliged her and angled his wrist so that the small scent gland was right under her nose. She pressed a soft kiss to it. 

“I- I gotta,” she muttered to herself, trying to pull her thoughts together. Everything was jumbled, and her thoughts felt like they took years to process rather than seconds. It was like she was drunk, high, and half asleep all at once, and she hated it. 

No one had mentioned anything about the entire ordeal with the shooting to her, or in front of her, and she wasn’t quite ready to mention it herself either. But, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she wasn’t doing as well as they wanted her to, and she knew that she needed to get back to the orphanage to help out with the aftermath. 

Jasmine was probably swamped with everyone. Most of the elementary school kids were still at the age where they preferred her over their own Den Alpha, the middle schoolers seemed to be perpetually confused and always forgot common sense, but worst of all, she knew everyone on the high school floor was a mess. 

Ethan was probably alone in his room. No one was there to hold him, and she didn’t think Dayja would be allowed back for at least another week or two. There was a sizable chance they’d all holed up in one of the rooms together, or even gone down into the tunnels to drink. 

Jordan was probably taking care of some of them though, and organizing something for Chase when he got out of the hospital. she was usually the one to organize the non-official events, so Sofia didn’t really expect anything. 

“No,” she mumbled into her nail as she bit it, something about that didn’t sound right. There was probably a bigger chance that Jordan was downstairs helping Jasmine with the pups. Jordan loathed being alone, even if bossing people around was her forte.

Chase should be in the same hospital as her unless they’d flown him out to a military one with better facilities, but she wasn’t sure what floor he’d be on anyways. They might let her go to see him, or maybe let him come up to see her sometime later on. 

She pressed back into Steve again, unconsciously seeking the tightening of his arms around her. Sofia got what she wanted, and Steve even readjusted them so they weren’t as close to the edge of the bed as before. 

Steve bent down so that she could turn her head and press her nose into his scent glands. 

“You’re okay,” he soothed, though even in her frazzled state, she could hear his nerves. 

“Y’r a dork,” she retorted, then stuttered out, “wha- what’s going on with everything?” 

“Uh-” Steve grumbled, stiffening underneath her. 

She could sense them all look at each other, and looked at the blur that she knew was Sam questioningly. 

“S’mething’s wrong,” she persisted when no one answered. Something had been nagging at the back of her mind, a memory she could graze with her fingertips just so, but not really understand. 

For one of the mightiest heroes of the world, Sam was so  _ soft _ and she knew that for better or for worse, he’d probably be the one to tell her something. 

“I-” Sam stuttered, then looked at Tony, “let’s get your coffee into you, and a muffin or something, then we’ll sit down and talk, alright?” 

It wasn’t the answer that Sofia wanted, and she didn’t know what she expected. She was tired though, so she just shrugged half-heartedly. 

“J-just, tell me how’s Chase alright? I mean they did the surgery and everything right?” She asked after a second of awkward silence.

The silence grew worse. Steve felt nervous under her, and she felt bad, but she needed to know what was going on. 

“What happened?” She asked, growing annoyed at their silence. She looked at Thor, who was shifting awkwardly behind Sam. 

She was sure that Thor had been at the orphanage, remembered his large, steel band like arms around her as he pulled her away. Sofia knew she remembered it, but it felt like a dream from long ago, so she wasn’t too sure. 

Sam came up closer to her and put a hand on her knee. He bent down so they were eye level, and she blinked dazedly at him. 

“Chase didn’t make it sweet pea,” he broke the news to her softly, then paused like she was supposed to explode in a flurry of emotion and anger. 

Instead, she blanked. 

She didn’t know what to say, the words had left her malfunctioning mind, and suddenly she just wanted to go back to sleep. 

Sam looked like he wanted a response though, so she gave him one, “Okay.” 

No one said anything, not that she expected them to. Sam squeezed her knee though, and gave a soft, “Okay,” that sounded like he wanted to say a hundred different words. 

“What uh- what about Jordan?” She remembered Jordan, had a blurry image of the other omega on the sofa in the living room, but couldn’t remember where the image came from or when. 

Sam didn’t say anything to her, just squeezed her knee again. 

Sofia nodded, and said “Oh.” Her voice cracked a bit, but she didn’t cry, even though her eyes were sore and puffy like she’d been crying earlier. 

As soon as she could, she had to get back to Ethan. The pup had lost so much after, after everything, and of all things, he didn’t need this. Anna probably wouldn’t be okay either, not that she could imagine who would be doing okay. 

From what she could remember, she’d probably be in the hospital another day or so, so she had a little time to think of what she could do. 

Natasha came in like a redheaded angel of death, with a large paper cup of coffee from Starbucks in her hand. She came straight towards Sofia and put it down on a conveniently emptied spot on the table. 

“Caramel macchiato, how many extra sugars do you need?” 

Sofia blinked in confusion, then shook her head and mumbled the first number that came to mind, “Three,” she wasn’t completely sure that was how much she’d like. Her desire for sugar fluctuate unpredictably, but three was a good guess. 

Natasha added the sugar into the already sweet drink and stirred it with a thin wooden stick. She replaced the cap and pressed the opening to Sofia’s bottom lip. 

Sofia drank it greedily, hoarse throat soothed by the scorching hot coffee. Natasha and Steve were trying to coax her into drinking slowly, and Natasha was holding the cup for her, but halfway through finishing it she had to pull back, cheeks flushed and stomach rolling. 

The coffee was easily swapped out for a bedpan, and Natasha stepped away so Sofia had a vague semblance of control as she held it herself. 

When she was done, Natasha gently took the bedpan from her, then let her press her face into her navel. Tears were stinging her eyes, and she was only able to mumble her apologies as they continued to fall from her chapped lips. 

“Sorry,” she said one last time and pulled away. Natasha was holding the back of her neck in what was supposed to be a comforting grip. It burned a bit more than it soothed her, but she didn’t shake it off like she wanted to, “I’m okay,” she assured herself. 

Natasha didn’t say anything, but Steve said enough as he squeezed his arms around her again. They didn’t believe her, but that was fine. She just needed to get out of the hospital and back to the orphanage. 

At least there, she’d have some sort of busy work to do that would occupy her mind so she wouldn’t have to flounder around like she was now. She had to get her ass over to Manhattan as soon as she could, or at least try to get into contact with one of Jordan’s cousins. 

The state wouldn’t have reached out to them, and they weren’t allowed to put an omega minor’s picture on television without express from the guardian alpha, who just so happened to be as dead as the omega in question was.    
  


In all, it meant that there was a small chance of Jordan’s parents knowing what was going on, and unless Anna was still friends with her cousins, Sofia couldn’t think of anyone that would know. 

She just had to get out of the hospital. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I posted a pwp between Clint and Tony, and I marked it as inspired by this story so it shouldn't be too hard to find. I also put it in a series specifically for outtakes because *drumroll please* there's gonna be a part two for this story. 
> 
> This one is gonna end in another chapter or two but I'm not sure so I haven't marked it, and part two is gonna start right after the mating. I split it up a bit earlier than I planned because I didn't wanna change the rating of a whole story for one or two sex scenes, but I promise someone gets railed in the first two chapters of part two so I won't have ya'll waiting long. 
> 
> That being said, I hope you guys liked it and as always let me know what you think. I love to hear from you guys.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/14/2020-4/16/2020
> 
> Hey so trigger warnings for some serious alcohol and drug use instead of coping.

To say that the doctors had been hesitant to discharge Sofia from the hospital would be an understatement. Still, after she’d been semi-conscious for a few hours, they agreed to just keep her another day for observation. 

Sofia had trudged through it, doing her best to find a way to appreciate the presence of the alphas in her room while simultaneously trying to figure out what the fuck she was gonna do when they released her. 

It wasn’t like she had much time to figure out though. They brought her some sweats and a tank top to change into, and let her shower late in the evening of the fourteenth, and she was officially discharged a little before eight o’clock. 

They’d left her with a frighteningly large pill to take in the morning every day for a week, and instructions to do her best to keep occupied to lessen the chances of her falling back into heat randomly. 

Even though she’d already showered, when Clint’s arms fell from around her and they all said their farewells, the first thing she did was go upstairs and take another shower. 

Though days had passed, her room still smelt like other people and blood. Someone, probably Ethan, had disassembled her nest and there was a bag of clean laundry that probably held whatever she’d bloodied. She should be mad at the blatant invasion of her space, but she was just really thankful that she didn’t have to do it herself. 

Sofia very carefully pulled out another outfit that consisted of sweats and a stained tank top, then got dressed in the bathroom. 

She didn’t want to stay on the high school floor, and though there were over a hundred notifications that could remain unattended to on her phone, she didn’t feel like checking that either. It smelled like tears had dried and formed into the very foundation of the high school floor, and they stung her eyes when her eyes caught the door to Chase’s room. 

Tears didn’t fall from her eyes though, and part of her scolded herself for being so inconsiderate as to not have even cried for Chase and Jordan, but she just turned towards the elevator and pressed the button for the nursery floor. 

Jasmine was sitting down in a rocking chair in the far corner, behind most of the cribs and her arms out of view from the entrance. When she came in, she acknowledged Sofia’s presence with a slight dip of the chin. 

Sofia made a beeline for where Ethan was sitting near a toppled tower of foam blocks. Ethan looked up at her and put a hand on her knee, but they both silently looked toward where baby Danny was sleeping peacefully in his lap. 

“Sofie,” a squeaky voice called out. She looked toward Sammy and opened her arm in an offer that he took eagerly. He clamored into her lap and patted Danny’s soft cheek with all the calm and gentleness a toddler could have. 

“Hey baby,” she greeted gently and ran a hand over his head. Someone had put them into slim, neat cornrows that stopped just at the nape of his neck. There were a few bright green and pink beads at the bottom, and Sofia was surprised that they hadn’t fallen out yet. 

“Who did your hair?” Sofia’s best guess was Dayja, but Dayja didn’t have the patience to do anyone’s hair, let alone a toddler’s. 

“Banana,” he answered sweetly, and she felt a smile tug at the edge of her mouth. 

“Briana did your hair?” She asked needlessly, wanting to keep up the sweet, meaningless chatter. 

“Yu-huh, Sofia?” 

“What’s up, baby?” She asked as Ethan attempted to rest his head on her shoulder. She let him, because she knew that physical contact wasn’t something Ethan asked for a lot, even though he was essentially a six foot tall baby that lifted the paint cans in the janitor’s closet because a gym wouldn’t take him. 

“Is he playing with Mr. Chase and Jordan and Sebby?” 

“Sebby?” She asked after a second of tense silence. Ethan had gone stiff and his scent had saddened even more. Reflexively, she tightened an arm around him, but she didn’t take her wide eyes off of Samuel. 

Like her, Sebastian had been born into the system. He was around five or six years old, still stuck to Jasmine’s hip, and a shy, small boy. When he’d gotten to the orphanage, his brown skin had been a sickly pale tone, and he’d been in and out of Maimonides until he was three months old. Fetal alcohol syndrome had hit him hard, and despite being around eight years old, he hadn’t even started talking until a few months ago. 

Jordan had taken to him instantly, some distant part of him reminded her. He’d been too young to speak by far but had opened his eyes a bit wider every time she’d sung something to him in Spanish. They hadn’t looked alike in the slightest, but Jordan had taken one look at him and pronounced him as Guatemalan. 

“Sebby,” he confirmed with a solemn nod. She looked to Ethan, who just pulled Danny closer to him and mumbled, “It was quick.” 

“Oh,” she heard, and she tilted her head so she could rest it atop Ethan’s. 

“Is he?” Sammy persisted with the emotional intelligence of the toddler he was. 

“Yeah Sammy,” Ethan assured him so she didn’t have to. 

“But he’s gonna wake up right?” 

“Yeah honey,” Sofia forced out and lightly scratched the boy’s scruff.

The two of them stood like that for as long as they could, Sammy having run off after he got enough of watching Daniel sleep. When the infant started to rouse, Sofia gently pried Ethan from her arms and made the baby a bottle. 

Jasmine didn’t kick them out or go to bed herself, just milled around the floor attending to the pups and whichever of the older kids had chosen to hide out on the floor. 

Ethan fell asleep first, Daniel still safely in his arms and Sofia didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until Jasmine was gently jostling her awake. 

She sighed through her nose, but still nodded at the uncharacteristically morose alpha and proceeded to wake up Ethan. 

The male didn’t budge, just growled, and tried to bury his face into her neck. 

“It’s fine,” Jasmine conceded, “we can wake him up right before.” 

Sofia nodded, then offered, “Baths?” 

“Uh, no,” she shook her head as she spoke, and Sofia tried not to stare at the bags under her eyes, “but uh, food, please, then go get dressed.” 

Sofia nodded, and together they arranged Ethan so that he was laying with his head on a pillow and a small blanket thrown over his shoulders. 

Raiden, one of the middle school boys stumbled into the room, small, brown eyes open wide, and Sofia didn’t know much about him, hadn’t really spent too much time with him, but something in her heart broke at the way he ignored everyone and beelined to curl up beneath Ethan. 

Ethan, the gentle giant, just opened his arms and spooned the smaller boy. 

Most of the pups were still sleeping, and it looked to Sofia like most of the older kids had fallen asleep somewhere on the floor in the nursery. With the help of Jasmine and a majority of whoever the blonde had woken up, they managed to get all of the pups fed before eight, and Jasmine shooed them off with orders to get dressed and come back if there was time. 

Sofia woke up Ethan first, then Raiden, and with the fifteen or so people that Jasmine had shooed off, the elevator was more than packed as they bypassed the elementary school floor and went to the middle school floor. 

There were only three shower stalls on each floor, so she went to her room as a few of the others went to shower. There were only six of them now, between Dayja and Jordan being gone. 

She should probably see how David, the elementary school’s Den Alpha was doing, and if he needed help getting the pups down there dressed. 

“I’ll go,” she promised herself, but still robotically pulled out one of the few modestly cut black dresses that she owned, and her school flats. 

After a brief second of her thoughts going blank, she pulled out a pair of underwear and her bra. She’d probably just wash her hair and braid the front back, but something had to be done to it. 

Anna opened her door without knocking, and she looked to the other omega whose eyes were blotchy from tears Sofia didn’t know if she could shed, “Her mom uh- her mom said we could all- after-”

The other girl cut herself off by looking away. 

Sofia tentatively wrapped the towel clad girl in her arms and held her as she cried. 

She managed to hold her own tears in until after she showered, but as she was contemplating whether it was worth putting on lotion the tears fell from her eyes silently. 

She put on the lotion though, pulled herself together enough to do her eyebrows, took the pills the doctor had sent her home with, and put her collar on quickly enough that she didn’t catch the scent of fear that still lingered on it a bit. 

“You’re fine,” she assured herself as she caught Ethan on her way to the elevator to check on David. 

“I don’t wanna go by-”

“It’s okay, I’ll print the forms and we’ll be back in time for Chase’s,” Sofia felt bad for cutting the boy off, but she didn’t want to talk just yet. 

In the elevator, she forced herself to respond to the messages on her phone as best as she could. Rose, Lisa, and Kiara got the exact same message, and she sent a simple greeting to the pack group chat rather than answering any of their questions. 

To her surprise, it was the realization that Rose had taken up her streaks without being asked that made her laugh. 

The laughter turned to sobs too soon, and she wiped them away in time for the elevator doors to open on the elementary school floor. 

It was shaped oddly to account for the third through fifth graders having their own rooms while the first and second graders slept in the row of twin beds that lined the far wall where the window on her floor was. On the wall to the right were six doors that were all opened, and on the wall to the left was one door near the row of twin beds, and toys lining the rest of the wall. There was a television playing Disney JR on the wall above the toys, and a couch in the same spot as on the high school floor. 

David didn’t say anything to her, just looked up from where he was fastening a pair of hand me down Mary Jane’s on a little boy named Jacob. There were a couple of other people milling around, trying to help get the youngest dressed. 

Instead of crowding the already nervous pups, she went up to Amira, a sweet little girl who’d arrived a few years ago after her family had been in a car crash, and like Jordan had been, was waiting for one of her uncles to get papers so they could take her home. 

“Hey honey,” she soothed the fifth grader, “wanna come downstairs with me? You don’t have to do nothing, just thought you wouldn’t wanna be here right now.” 

Amira looked up through her long lashes, uncomfortably pulling at the hair she’d been accustomed to covering with a hijab until the state had taken her, and nodded shyly. Sofia was a little surprised she didn’t have some sort of covering on it, but the girl hadn’t learned how to do it herself before she’d been taken, had been previously told a hoodie or hat was unprofessional. If it were any other day, Sofia would hope that David hadn’t said something to her, or try to help, but she really just wanted the day to be over.

The little girl just huddled in a corner, careful not to wrinkle her navy blue dress, and played idly with a baby doll that had bite marks littered on it. 

She went to help Jasmine finish dressing the younger ones, and when nine fifty hit, hoisted Sammy onto her hip and grabbed one of the other kid’s hands. They were only one floor up from the lobby, so rather than wait for the elevator they filed down the cold staircase. 

The lobby was annoyingly bright, and she squinted when it hit her eyes, but still held tightly to both Sammy and Nikolas, the little boy whose hand she was holding. 

“I could tell Sammy he’s pretty?” The boy asked in a loud whisper, sensing the tense air but still unable to keep his own emotions in check. 

“Later Nicky,” she promised and led them towards the sidewalk. 

Sofia didn’t remember walking to church, just knew that they must have gotten there as she left the pups together on the pew and went up with Ethan to stare blankly at the closed caskets at the front of the church. 

Near the back of the church was Jordan’s family, and in the very back were some of the older kids’ alphas. Sofia spotted a few of the older kids that had long since gone away and been mated there too, then finally toward the back right corner of the church was the pack. 

Sammy kept himself glued tightly to her side, even as she found herself leaning into Tony’s side. 

Boldly, the toddler reached for Clint to pick him up, and the surprised blond stuttered but still accepted. 

She apologized, but Sammy was basically hiding in Clint, and even if she wanted to, she didn’t think she’d be able to pry him off. 

“Doesn’t he talk a lot?” Clint asked in confusion, Sofia shrugged halfheartedly, then rubbed a palm over her eye to get her thoughts together, “Yeah uh- but not with all the stress he’s picking up, and it isn’t- it’s not normal he’s supposed to get tested for Aspergers after his birthday.” 

She didn’t hear if Clint commented or not, and she eventually had to pry the omega from his arms so they could go back to their respective seats for mass. 

The priest in the front was an old, balding man that Sofia remembered from when she was younger and had to come to mass at this church with her middl and elementary school. When he opened his mouth and started speaking, she looked at Sammy and carefully stroked a hand over his temple so she wouldn’t have to pay attention. 

“Did you get the forms?” Ethan asked her, sliding up next to her. She blinked and squinted at the sudden influx of light. They were outside, watching as Jordan and Sebastian were loaded into the back of two hearses. 

“Wha- oh no I forgot,” she stuttered, then mumbled a contrite, “sorry.”

Ethan ran a hand over his face, smudging still wet tears everywhere, “It’s fine I’ll get one from the desk later.”

She mumbled another apology as Ethan walked ahead of her, hand on his alpha’s arm, and Raiden clinging to his other side. 

“What party?” Natasha asked, and Sofia looked toward her, wondering when she’d gotten up to stand by them again. 

“Oh I was gonna ask, it’s in Manhattan at my friend’s mom’s house. One of the forms I don’t have to have someone with me I think,” she said, thinking of the form Dayja used to use all the time. It was different from the normal ones, longer and more detailed, but would let Tony sign her out for the night. 

“I’ll be back,” she tacked on when no one responded, only just noticing that a complacent Sammy was tightly clinging to her, “just pro’lly late.” 

It took them entering the orphanage’s side of the cemetery for Sofia to realize that the funeral was over. She didn’t remember it at all, but she remembered walking away from Tony after he agreed to let her go so long as he sent her a car to come back, joining Ethan as he stared blankly at the open graves. 

Jordan’s mom was crying audibly now, and Sofia felt a harsh breath of air leave her nose when she caught sight of the plaque that would never be replaced by Jordan’s headstone. 

She’d asked about it once and hadn’t gotten a proper answer, so she’d looked it up. All of the websites she found said that it was because the state couldn’t afford headstones for every dead omega. 

In place of her last name was the engraved letters of  _ Omega _ followed immediately by her old number. 

Part of her had known that the state wouldn’t have put her last name on the plaque, but Sofia had still had a shrivel of hope that they would at least grant her that, even in death. 

No one was allowed to throw flowers or dirt onto the coffins, so the actual burial was quicker than Sofia would have expected. They’d just left the church too, so there were no words said by the priest. 

There was just Jordan’s coffin being lowered gently into the ground by the odd looking machine they used, then Sebastian’s being lowered in the same way a few feet away. 

Tony and the others went back to the orphanage with her and even waited for her as she helped Jasmine bring the pups back to the nursery. 

“C’mon let’s go get the forms alright? Just let someone know when you’re ready to go. Don’t take the train back late,” Sam tugged her toward the front desk, then gently called the receptionist over. It was the same woman, as usual, the one Sofia never really got along with, but she just looked from Sam to Sofia and slid out a form without asking. 

The form was more like three or four different sheets of paper detailing all of the legal bits and pieces of information on why it was a bad idea for Sofia to out past midnight without an alpha. From the complaints she’d heard from Dayja and some of the other girls, she knew it also explained why Tony was the only person that could give her permission to be out. 

Personally, Sofia had never needed the form since she didn’t have anyone that was able to sign it for, but she knew that it was the same one the other high schoolers were getting signed. 

Tony skimmed it before he signed, and then they said their goodbyes. Part of her wished they’d offered to take her somewhere, but she was just glad to be left alone. 

Unlike she’d hoped, she wasn’t left alone at all. Rather, Ethan trailed behind her like a lost puppy and tugged her towards his room when she got upstairs. He pulled her into his bed and wrapped himself around her like she was a particularly appealing body pillow. 

They stood like that for a while until he sat up, “C’mon we gotta get dressed it’s three and they want us at four.”

“Ethan its a Puerto Rican party no one’ll be there ‘til six,” it was probably the first full sentence she’d said all day, but she’d nearly fallen back asleep being held by Ethan, and she didn’t see the need to get up any time soon. 

“But what if they run outta food?” 

Sofia mentally rolled her eyes but sat up anyway. If she didn’t get up now, there was a chance she’d never get up. 

“I’m not coming back sober,” she told him bluntly. It was the truth, she planned on sitting herself down near the hookah, going outside to smoke, and having a drink in hand the entire time.

When he didn’t answer, she felt an empty laugh bubble from her lips, “What? Not like there’s anyone to beat my ass.” His eyes widened and he shook his head but laughed anyway. 

“Okay, just gonna need a cab then ‘cause I don’t know how to take the train there,” he said through his laughter, then walked over towards his dresser and pulled out a pair of ripped jeans, he started looking through it for a shirt after he’d settled on the pair. 

She’d tell him about Tony’s offer later, but for now, “I have a sweater that’ll look like a crop top if you want it.” 

Width wise, he wasn’t much bigger than her, so it’d still look carefully baggy, and she could see him liking it. 

“Uhh, sure,” his false happiness was fading a bit, and Sofia felt a little guilty. 

“I’ll do your makeup,” she offered in an effort to help, his scent brightened up a bit at that, and he countered with, “I’ll pick your outfit.” 

She agreed and he grabbed his pants so they could go over to her room. With Ethan by her side, it was a little easier to ignore what had happened there less than a week ago. 

He let her rifle through her clothes for the sweater she was talking about. On her, it rode up whenever she lifted her arms, but on him it reached an inch or so below where his bra would have ended, so he would need to be careful not to raise his arms. Combined with the mid-rise ripped jeans, he looked pretty. 

It was when he pulled out a tube top for her that she started to question her decision in letting him chose her outfit. 

“I need high pants for this,” she told him when he started looking for a pair for her. He nodded and pulled out a high waisted pair of ripped jeggings that Natasha had bought her. 

She threw herself onto her bare mattress that was still pressed up against the closet door, and started to pull off her clothes as Ethan threw the new outfit at her. 

When it came time to do his makeup, she did it quickly, and finished putting on his lashes as Andre, one of the freshmen, tentatively opened her door. 

“Hey, Anna went with them after and me, Juliana, and Jesse were gonna go soon,” he offered, looking around the room like either her or Ethan were going to randomly attack. 

“Gimme like ten minutes?” She knew they’d wait for either way, her, Jordan, and Dayja were the only ones that really knew how to travel from borough to borough, and she didn’t need two freshmen and a sophomore getting lost because Ethan’s lashes wouldn’t stick. 

Ethan thanked her when she finally finished, and she made a mental note to tell him that the glue would last a while as she started on her own eyeliner. Her makeup was hard to do because she couldn’t see herself clearly, but she managed to get a wing, and her eyebrows done, then put on her lashes before twenty minutes had passed. 

She accepted the leather jacket Ethan passed her, grabbed her phone and school metro card, then after a brief thought, took off her collar. 

The others were waiting by the elevator, and together what was left of the high school floor boarded the train. It was nearly an hour and a half’s ride to Harlem because of the evening traffic, but as soon as they entered the door of the Crispus Atticus apartment building, they were greeted by a myriad of Jordan’s family members. 

Jordan’s mom and one of her dads were betas from Puerto Rico, but her second dad had been from Dominican Republic, and had been shot by the cops in a drug deal gone wrong a few years back. When her only alpha uncle still hadn’t had his papers together after a month, the state had taken her. 

“Hey, c’mon get some food then go to the stairs,” Anna said as she opened the door. Sofia nodded and led Ethan towards the back of the house where the kitchen was. Jordan’s mom was drunkenly giggling into someone’s shoulder and looked up to loudly greet her from across the small space. 

“Hi nena,” she called, dragging out the vowels of the word, then gestured toward where there were trays of food on the stove, counters, and even a few on a plastic table that was in the corner, “eat first, I know it’s spring but I made coquito cause uh-,” she cut herself off by clearing her throat, then continued, “and the bottles are in the sala.” 

She smiled, and one by one they went to hug and greet her before they were shooed back into the direction of the food. 

Sofia made a plate for Ethan first, doubting he’d know what to choose without being told, then made a plate for herself. The other kids from the orphanage made their own plates and went off to mingle by themselves.

“Pour a cup of that,” she said to Ethan, gesturing towards the tall half-empty bottle of white-brown liquid, “if you like it pour another and gimme one.” 

Ethan nodded and rushed to follow her orders. He ended up pouring Sofia another cup, and together they left the carriers in the kitchen, passed by the few older people and pups, and walked out of the apartment to enter the staircase. 

Anna was leaning against a window, and she remembered passing the others from the orphanage in the living room, so she didn’t look for them. There were a few people sitting on the stairs and a few more standing near the door. 

The two people sitting on the stairs got up so that Sofia and Ethan could sit down with their plates. Since she hadn’t eaten anything all day, her head was buzzing from the alcohol already. 

“Hey mami,” one of the alphas that had just given her his seat said, leaning over her a bit. This close, he smelled like mouthwatering alpha, and it was enough to tell her why he was so confident. There weren’t many Hispanic or black alphas, the more dominant genes had been bred out of them as a result of colonization, so most people of color were betas or omegas. It was part of the reason why the orphanage system consisted mainly of minorities. 

“Nah,” she said, even as she felt herself about to inch toward him, “not trying to do nothing today.”

He smiled, taking the rejection surprisingly easy, and pulled back from her, “Alright, pass it over to the gringita so she could eat Bernie,” he said to the male holding the joint. Bernie nodded and passed it to her. She leaned over so she wouldn’t drop ashes in her food accidentally, and took a couple of pulls before turning to Ethan. 

“Alright, you gotta pull it in right? Then take in a breath of air in your mouth to inhale.” 

Surprisingly, Ethan listened to her without needing further instruction, and she watched closely so she could see his face twist in disgust even though he proceeded to take more. 

When Ethan was done, one of Jordan’s cousins finished the last bit of it, even as Anna started to light another. 

The little bit she’d taken hadn’t gotten her high, but it made it easier for her to eat. She passed over Ethan purposely, not that the already intoxicated boy noticed.

Ethan hadn’t had much weed, but since it was his first time, he didn’t have a tolerance, and had already picked through most of his food and some of hers. 

She wasn’t sure if they’d gone through all of the weed yet or not, but when Ethan had finished most of her plate and Anna grabbed her hand with a, “And now we do shots,” Sofia didn’t find herself minding it at all. 

Sofia found her seat by the hookah, nearly finished drink still in her hand and started taking shots with Anna and a few of Jordan’s cousins. 

Someone that was driving towards Sunset drove home the others from the orphanage around midnight, but Sofia and Ethan didn’t get back to the orphanage until almost four in the morning, escorted into the building by a grumpy man named Happy. 

The false sense of security she’d been lulled into during the party was shattered the next morning when she woke up to a too loud alarm and Ethan’s arm around her. 

Her head hurt to the point that she couldn’t tell if it was Ethan’s own hangover or the sense of grief that had taken over the air again, but they didn’t speak as she left his room to shower and get dressed for Chase’s funeral alone. 

His funeral would be different from Jordan’s. Like the true and tried American Catholics they were, his family had arranged a full three day military service for him. 

Once she looked as human as possible, Sofia rebraided her hair into the same style as yesterday and put on a similarly cut black dress as the day before. 

Though he’d rarely made her change her clothes, Chase had never directly approved of most of her choices, so she wasn’t about to wear something he’d hate to his funeral. 

She took the pills the doctor had given her and some Tylenol and dragged herself down to the nursery to help Jasmine with the pups. 

“Oh, here,” Jasmine said once she got there, looking up from where she was putting Sammy’s dress on, “take one and go to the bathroom here, tell the others to come down too.” 

Sofia looked at the cup on the short table made for toddlers to sit at comfortably, then looked at Jasmine and mentally shrugged. There was a bathroom with a regular sized toilet on the floor, and she peed in the cup, thankfully not peeing on her hand this time. 

She texted the group chat with the others to come down when she was done and answered the good morning text Bucky had sent her. She  _ really _ hoped Tony expected the call he was going to get in the next hour or so. 

Even if he didn’t, it was too close to her birthday for him to rescind his adoption offer, so they’d be stuck with her for the rest of whatever time they had left. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this wasn't the last chapter, but I promise that there's only one left and it's already halfway written. My goal is to have it out by Thanksgiving, so if you're American or just so happen to know what day that is and see this after that please drop a comment to remind me. 
> 
> As always, I love to hear from you guys, please let me know what you think and if you've got any ideas for part two.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/16/2020-4/28/2020

Time passed by in a haze like it had yesterday, but as they started walking to the church, Sofia started to come out of the haze, unable to simply check out for Chase’s funeral as she had for Jordan’s. 

She made sure to greet the pack as not to seem rude, and since the mass wasn’t until the next day, was able to hide from Bucky’s piercing gaze, and Sam’s concerning one halfway behind Thor. 

They knew what her urine test had unnecessarily told them, and she couldn’t see much of a need to talk about it. 

A tentative hand on her shoulder made her turn back quickly. 

Her eyes met an older, shorter omega’s, and her arms flung out unthinkingly to wrap around one of her oldest friends. 

“Oh God,” she gasped out, pulling away quickly, “you’re pregnant,” she gestured to the male’s swollen stomach, tears pouring from her eyes and fogging up her glasses. 

“Yup,” he whispered conspiratorily, “for the _third_ time.” Sofia blinked in confusion then, “But-”

“I’m okay, I promise,” George promised, rubbing a hand over his swollen stomach. George hadn’t wanted kids at all, had been vehemently against it, and had even been the one that taught her how to take care of Ethan’s unwanted pregnancy.

She remembered the day he’d taught her. It was a day when she was too young to understand how important the lesson was, and she remembered wondering why George was teaching her how many Vitamin C pills and how much cinnamon would get the job done. Then, just after her twelfth birthday he’d taken her into one of Manhattan’s few brownstones and had shown her where to go in case of only the worst emergencies imaginable. 

Sofia put a hand over the swollen belly and noticed the look in George’s eyes. She knew that even if this was the third pregnancy his alpha knew about, it definitely wasn’t his third pregnancy. 

She looked over to where Curtis, George’s mate was standing, surrounded on all sides by bumbling toddlers and a bored looking middle schooler to his left. Curtis had been the high school’s Den Alpha for a few years, but just before she’d made her way to high school, had quit so he could find an apartment and file to mate George. He’d actually been the one to recommend Chase, claiming they’d been in the same unit in Kandahar.

George looked up, then started tugging her away, Sofia looked back to make sure that none of the pack members were annoyed, but Natasha shooed her off with a fond smile. 

“So this is Alex Francis,” he said gesturing toward the middle schooler, a short beta male that wanted to be anywhere but where he was, “this is Breanna Marie,” a female alpha, a little tall for even an alpha at her age waved, “Cassidy Anne,” Sofia noticed Curtis’ small smile, and blushed, realizing that the omega middle child from the litter was probably named after her intentionally, “and Destiny Rose.” As a litter that’d grown up together, their scents were nearly identical and they tended to stay within eyesight of each other. They couldn’t be older than four, which made her wonder just how many at home abortions George had done, and how many Curtis had found about. 

Sofia smiled and waved at the pups, then looked towards George in confusion, “Did you really name them in alphabetical order?” 

“Took me two years to notice,” Curtis chipped in. Sofia looked towards George, hand over her mouth in shock, but the older omega just shrugged. 

“C’mon, he doesn’t mind being with them. I wanna see the others,” George tried to steer them towards the other orphans, but Cassidy stuck to his leg so stubbornly that Sofia tentatively reached down to offer to hold her. To her surprise she let her, but Breanna, already the protective alpha, gave her a cautionary look. 

“It’s fine Annie, come meet mommy’s friends,” George soothed Breanna once he noticed, and she walked up to his side to offer her hand. Satisfied, George walked toward the others. 

Looking at George now, it was hard to tell how she went even a day without thinking about him. He’d basically raised her and had been the most stable figure in her life until his eighteenth birthday, and she’d nearly forgotten about him. She remembered the nights where she would take the elevator by herself to crawl into his bed after a nightmare, and how without fail he’d open his arms wide and welcome her in. 

Her nostalgic thoughts dissipated when she smelt the alcohol on Ethan’s breath and Jasmine’s silent anger. 

“It’s fine,” Ethan attempted to soothe, “saved you some,” he pressed his black purse into her free hand. Sofia blinked up at him in confusion, torn between wanting to smack him in the middle of the church and wanting to run to the bathroom in hopes that whatever he’d left her would get her drunk. 

“Do it,” George encouraged, “you shouldn’t have to be here right now.” 

Sofia passed Cassidy to Ethan, took the purse, and excused herself to the bathroom. 

There were breeders in military uniforms walking up to the casket, Jasmine and Curtis had both come in full uniform, and Sofia couldn’t stop herself from looking at Chase’s crying mother, or his stoic father. 

She wanted to say something to them, wanted to try and help in any way she could, but every time she looked towards the open casket all she saw was the bloody blue cardigan she’d pressed into his side, and how it had all been for nothing. 

The other high schoolers must have gotten into whatever of the jungle juice that had been saved from Jolene’s party because there were two water bottles full in the bottom of Ethan’s purse, surrounded by at least five empty ones. 

Sofia uncapped the first bottle inside the church’s small bathroom and quickly downed both of them. They’d fermented wonderfully over time, and had such a strong taste of alcohol that she nearly gagged on it. 

She didn’t remember any of Chase’s funeral, and later in the night, just before midnight, she gathered some money from the others and gave it to the homeless beta male that lived in the train station so he would buy them a bottle from the liquor store. 

Chase’s replacement hadn’t come yet since no one wanted to work with high schoolers, so they were able to drink on the floor of the living room. One of the freshmen had tried to sit on the couch, but Juliana had snarled at him until he sat on the floor, and no one had said a word about it. 

Sofia was the only one of them with a real tolerance, but she still managed to get drunk enough that she laughed as she held back Andre’s hair so he could vomit into the toilet. 

George was there for the day of the mass too, and looked at Curtis wearily as he welcomed a strange, imposing white alpha into the church. Though George claimed the stranger’s name was Pete, Sofia couldn’t help but feel off about him. The only bit of reassurance that she got was when Curtis trusted him enough to let him hold Cassidy. 

~~~~

“You’re not missing this,” Jasmine snarled at them the morning of the burial. They’d all squished themselves inside the small bathroom in the back of the church a few minutes before they were set to leave, and the faucet was digging into Sofia’s lower back. 

“You guys don’t get to drink and miss this,” she said again and snatched the bottle of rum from Juliana. Not much was left after they’d drunk nearly half of it the day before, but there was enough to get all of them blacked out if the freshmen took small sips. 

“You _can’t_ just-” Jasmine said for the third time, but her voice cracked before she could finish what she was saying, so she just snatched Ethan’s purse to stuff it in there and stormed out of the bathroom door.

After a second or two, they shuffled out of the bathroom. None of Chase’s family members knew what happened from what Sofia could tell, but David’s heartbroken eyes told her that he knew enough. She didn’t dare to look at any of the pack members, resenting their presence more than she was grateful for it in the face of what had just happened. 

Sure, she knew it wasn’t their fault, but she didn’t dare blame Jasmine. 

Jasmine who was normally so bubbly that it felt sickeningly intoxicating, Jasmine who’d been one of the only alphas in the orphanage that she dared to talk to some things about, Jasmine who-

Fully sober, Sofia clung to George’s side, unwilling to deal with the amount of concern that was leeching off of each of the pack members. 

They went to a different part of the cemetery than they had gone to for Jordan and Sebastian, but there was still an empty grave, so Sofia didn’t see much need for a difference in setting. 

When the soldiers lifted their guns and started shooting, she turned her face into his neck and sobbed. 

She still had a few days before school officially started back up, but they passed by in a drunken blur after Ethan revealed he’d found Jordan’s stash. 

Jordan had also been hiding almost more weed than Sofia had ever seen at once in a long time, and Ethan had helpfully snatched it up before any of the adults could find out about it. 

Though Ethan stopped drinking after a day or two and had quietly confessed that he didn’t like being high after a third, he always made sure that she found her way to bed after uncaringly smoking either in the living room or bathroom, and after a few days passed, she showed up to school on the twentieth high, with three joints already rolled up in her bag next to a smoke buddy and perfume to help hide the scent. 

Mrs. H found her, reeking of weed and red eyed from it, but didn’t even bother to reprimand her, just held her in the quiet of her office so she could cry. 

“Poor baby,” someone mocked when she entered a study period. Her eyes were still sore from crying, but she didn’t feel in the mood to cry on Ms. H’s couch anymore, and could probably get a half an hour or so of sleep if she tried. 

“Don’t know why you’re crying,” the nasally voice continued. The girl mocking her was another omega from her grade, with box braids Sofia was itching to pull out, and canines that had been forcibly filed down a few years before. 

“What?”

“Aren’t you a feminist? Thought you’d be happy ya’ killed a alpha,” the other girl, Sandra if Sofia remembered correctly continued as she stared up in confusion. The other wasn’t even making _sense_ and she was ready to go back to the orphanage and hide from the world. 

“You did kill ‘im didn’t you? I mean you coulda called for help or some shit.”

Sofia gulped, tears burning at the corners of her eyes again but still managed to say with a steady voice, “Sit the fuck down.” 

She and Sandra had gotten into a fight a few months ago, she reminded herself, and the other omega was probably just feeling some type of way about it. Even so, the girl hadn’t stopped posting subs at her on Snapchat since, so she guessed that this had been inevitable. 

Instead of sitting down, Sandra twisted a hand in her hair to pull her out of her seat and slapped her. 

Blindly, Sofia pushed her off and watched as the other omega clattered into a freshman’s desk. She tried to ignore it and let it be, tried to sit back down at her desks in hope the teacher would get back from the bathroom, and do _something,_ but Sandra stood up and started pushing her out of the classroom towards the hallway. 

When Sandra had her pressed up against the locker and was choking her even through her pretty black collar, Sofia reached blindly and landed her fingers on a textbook in the open locker beside her head. 

Unthinkingly, she swung. 

Sandra fell on the floor, but she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t even see Sandra anymore. She saw Chase’s blood, the cardigan that used to be blue, the ugly sweater that used to be orange. She heard Daniel screaming because he couldn’t deal with the smell of fear of the smell of death anymore, she saw her own bloody hands and heard his gasping breaths as the life left his body. 

Someone pulled her away from Chase, and she flailed her arms like she had the first time, before she saw Sandra laying on the ground, textbook thrown somewhere off to the side, mouth bloody, and nose most likely broken. 

Sam came to pick her up from school that day, and had gently pried the collar off of her to check for bruises when the principal had stepped out of the office briefly. He replaced it quickly when he saw that they were already beginning to fade, and had held onto her thigh firmly for the drive back to the orphanage. 

“Pass me your bag,” he said once they’d parked. She blinked up at him and hesitated a bit too long because he repeated the order in a firmer tone that had her anxiously shaking hands passing him her backpack. 

His hands went straight for the front pocket of her bag, then when he found nothing aside from a few menstrual products and lipgloss, opened the main compartment where there was a small zipper meant for phones. 

He opened it and pulled out the two blunts she hadn’t gotten to smoke, then dug around a bit and pulled out the smoke buddy she’d been using to mask the smell. 

“You’re gonna get drug tested every day,” he said, gave her the bag back, then put the three stolen items in the console in between the seats, “and don’t worry we know it’ll be in your system for a while. It’s why we’re testing the levels too.” 

Sofia’s heart sunk further into her stomach with each word Sam said, and she eventually found herself shaking her head in denial, wanting to curl up and cover her ears so she wouldn’t have to listen. 

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a therapist, but we made an appointment for one for you. It’s not through the school or the state so you don’t have to worry about that,” as if sensing that she’d tuned out, he looked at her and gently held her chin, “this isn’t healthy Sofia, you need help.” 

Sofia didn’t tell him that she’d been to a therapist before, when she’d dropped so badly she needed hormone pills to balance her out, how the state paid therapist hadn’t been able to diagnose her with depression because it would decrease her chances of being adopted. How instead of diagnosing her with depression, the beta male had written down _suicidal tendencies_ and sent her on her way. 

She didn’t say any of that, but Sam didn’t make her feel like she needed to, just pulled her over the console in the middle so he could hold her in his lap and let her cry loud wracking sobs that made her nearly hyperventilate. 

He didn’t rush her to leave, and they ended up walking towards one of the other buildings that made up the orphanage so they could take a large, empty conference room that was used to draw up mating contracts. Outside of the room waiting was an Asian man from her favorite Chinese food restaurant. Sam paid him and let her curl up on his lap again so he could feed her the greasy fried wontons that she loved. 

~~~~

Her first therapy appointment was on Tuesday, and though the principal hadn’t suspended her, she’d blatantly told her not to come in, so Sofia had nothing to do but stare at what was left of Jordan’s weed and debate if it was worth it. 

It wasn’t, and she _knew_ that it wasn’t, but Sam had partially been overreacting. She had gotten high for more than three days in a row before, had gotten into worse fights. She was _fine,_ and if anything it wasn’t her fault that Tauruses smoked a lot of weed. 

“You’re just a victim of astrology,” she assured herself just as Jasmine came into her room unannounced. 

“This is mine now,” she said, as gently as she could, and took the baggie from her along with her box of rolling papers. 

Sofia didn’t say anything, but let herself lean into Jasmine’s hand when the alpha brushed her hair behind her ear. 

“Go shower, the car’s gonna be here in a half an hour to get you.”

Jasmine looked toward her closet door, and Sofia knew what the alpha was thinking, but didn’t want to say anything. She still hadn’t gotten her period, and hadn’t nested. It could be from the hormones she just finished the day before on or even the stress, but either way, it wasn’t good. 

“You’re gonna tear it up,” she said by way of response. Jasmine nodded at her and Sofia dragged herself into a sitting position. 

Out of everything that had happened in the past two weeks, she felt that the one thing she couldn’t see was Jasmine tearing up her room to look for drugs. 

She took her towel and showered quickly, and got back to see Jasmine had found the rest of Jordan’s weed and a few of her lighters. 

Part of her wanted to cry, but it felt like she’d run out of tears in the past week, and she was only able to watch as Jasmine stepped out of her room, contraband in hand. 

She pulled on a pair of jeans and a thin hoodie since it had started getting warm outside, and tried to avoid Ethan’s gaze as she went downstairs. 

A car pulled up in front of the building, and the same man that had picked her and Ethan up from the party came out to open the back door of a sleek black Towncar. 

She had only signed back into Snapchat once before asking Rose to take over the account again and hadn’t been active on social media in any form other than that aside from scrolling mindlessly through TikTok. 

Now though, she couldn’t stop herself from signing back in, wanting to know what people were more than likely saying about her even after the time had passed. 

It hadn’t quite been a full twenty four hours, so there were still a couple of videos of it. 

Looking at the videos, Sofia knew why Sam had seemed so concerned. 

She’d looked completely feral slamming that textbook into Sandra’s head, had bared her teeth and growled like an animal when she threw it to the side to slam her fist into the other omega’s face. 

She had to try and soften the harsh breath that nearly broke free from between her lips, but signed out of the app nonetheless. 

There wasn’t anything there for her that needed attention just yet. 

The therapist’s office was relatively easy to find, it was a floor above a regular family practice, and painted all white in a way that somehow made it feel welcoming clinical. 

A tall female alpha was working as the receptionist. It surprised Sofia to see an alpha working a job usually reserved for carriers and possibly the odd omega, but if her surprise showed on her face, the other female didn’t show any sign of acknowledging it. 

“Good afternoon,” she greeted gently, Sofia gave a polite smile that she hoped came off the right way and nodded, “I’ll just need you to scan your bracelet for me, please.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Sofia maneuvered her bracelet so that the engraving on it was facing down and pressed it into the semicircle to be scanned by the office’s servers. 

She didn’t usually have to scan her bracelet at doctors’ appointments, but since it wasn’t a state mandated appointment, they probably didn’t have all of her information. 

“Sofia,” she said, a bit unnecessarily, “well Dr. Weaver should be expecting you soon so just go down the hall right here and she’s the first door on the left.” 

She thanked the nameless alpha and turned down the hall. There were pictures of various nature scenes decorating the space, but it was the image of a waterfall somewhere in a jungle she couldn’t name that had her pausing before she turned the corner. 

The image didn’t hold her attention for long, and she tore herself away and walked into the open door on the left. 

Dr. Weaver was a short black beta female with bright brown eyes that hinted at Asain ancestry. It made sense, for a beta to be a therapist. Their scents were easily calming and worked on almost anyone. 

Which was why when Sofia took a hopefully discreet sniff of air before going over to the stereotypical couch, she was surprised that she couldn’t scent anything on the doctor. 

“You noticed it quicker than most,” she said by way of greeting. Sofia shrugged, but as the conversation progressed, she found herself talking to the other female easily. 

The doctor didn’t ask any serious questions and didn’t even address the reason she was there until half an hour had passed. 

When she did, Sofia wasn’t caught off guard, having expected the question. 

“Now, we don’t have to talk about the events of the past two weeks, just now, but I’d like to at least talk about the start of your heat.”

“Uhh, I think I started the day after my shot,” she offered, trying to remember through the haze that came with her generally poor short term memory. 

“That’s a good start, what happened at the doctor’s office? How did the appointment go?” 

Sofia rambled on about how she’d been pretty sure Anna was supposed to go with her but hadn’t, said a bit about how she’d gotten her nails done in Sunset. Still, she carefully avoided remembering the way Chase had held her hair back afterward when her stomach had revolted against her and the vomiting had started. 

Dr. Weaver knew she was leaving something out, Sofia could tell as much from the look in her eye and the intentional silence that the beta let them drown in. 

“I think,” the doctor said slowly, “that there’s a lot you haven’t fully dealt with, and the shooting was just the tip of the iceberg. I’d like to take our next session to talk only about that, and maybe the session after to talk about the few days that followed. What do you think about that?” She asked, bluntly but not unkindly. 

Sofia shrugged, not really caring much, but nodded anyway. 

“I would like to talk about the fight sometime soon, but I don’t see the point talking about that and not what caused it.”

“That fight started ‘cause she punched me before Christmas ‘cause she blames me for being the reason her and my ex aren’t fucking anymore,” she said, having forgotten the reason herself until she’d actively tried to recall it with a clear head. 

Dr. Weaver didn’t reprimand her, just waited a second before asking in an infuriatingly calm tone, “Do you think you would have responded the same way if it was any other day?” 

Sofia didn’t respond to that question. It wasn’t like they didn’t both know the answer anyway. 

Thankfully for Sofia, time ended quickly and she was able to walk out of the building. 

The car waiting outside dashed her hopes of walking to Brooklyn Bridge Park and staring blankly at the water until it got too cold to stay any longer. 

At first, she nearly didn’t get in, almost turned to walk up the block toward where there were more people and pull her hood up to cover the back of her head, but the beta male got out of the car and made a show of opening the back door for her. 

Cheeks flushed with a combination of anger and embarrassment, she got into the car and silently fumed in the back. 

A tentative hand on her shoulder stopped her from staring out the window longingly. 

Peter didn’t say anything, and she cursed herself for not having sensed his presence when she’d first entered the car, but still accepted the armful of pup that she received once they’d made eye contact. 

She looked up from where her view was blocked by Peter’s shoulder to see Harley exiting the car so he could come around the other side quickly. Peter had to be pushed a bit in order to slide across the seat, but he did it without complaining as she rubbed his back, murmuring, “We’re okay, we’re okay,” like a mantra she wouldn’t soon forget. 

When Harley sat in the spot she’d just vacated, she turned so she could give him the same amount of attention as she was giving Peter. Truthfully, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken to either of the pups and now that she realized it, she felt a rush of guilt. 

A broken sounding purr rumbled from her chest, but she didn’t try to stop it once it seemed like it was helping to calm both Harley and Peter. 

In the driver’s seat, Happy seemed a little less grumpy than she had before. 

The beta drove them to a little restaurant on Smith Street rather than back to the orphanage, and Sofia and the pups were greeted by the rest of the pack once they got there. 

With Harley and Peter’s infectious laughter, it was hard for any of them to remain morose for long, and as she went to school the next day, she remembered the weight of each of her hands in hers, and it made ignoring Sandra’s busted face a little easier. 

School passed in a sort of haze still, and though they let her travel back and forth by herself, she had to check in with Jasmine before five to take a drug test, and Jason, the middle school’s Den Alpha came up every day to make sure that she was in bed by midnight. 

What Jason didn’t know was that once he’d left she’d go and curl against Ethan’s side so she wouldn’t have to sleep alone. 

~~~~

Sofia didn’t go to school the day of her birthday, though they’d decided before that the actual mating could wait until the weekend after, Sofia was eager to not have to be in her bedroom. She just really hoped that she wouldn’t miss the orphanage and regret rushing the process.

Hell, she didn’t even know what her new home looked like from the inside, much less how she’d interact with the pack in a den setting. 

“I’m gonna go over a list of milestones with you, alright? Now the goal is to add and take away from this list because it’s only supposed to be what’s important to you,” she said, drawing Sofia’s attention away from two pigeons that were fighting out the window. 

Sofia nodded. The idea was a bit strange, but she’d grown intrigued in her therapist’s methods over their past two visits, and if they avoided the topic of the mating in favor of going over menial lists, she didn’t really have anything negative to say. 

Dr. Weaver put the list down on the small coffee table that separated them, and Sofia picked it up to look over. 

“My first period?” She asked, looking at the bullet point that was toward the beginning of the list. 

“Like I said, milestones, or if you don’t want to refer to it as that, we can call them turning points. I see that you have some issues coming to terms with parts of your past, and I’m a firm believer in speaking things into existence, so I want you to write a letter to yourself before each of these things happened. It could be about anything you want, it just has to be to that version of Sofia.” 

“That doesn’t make sense,” she said after a brief beat of awkward silence. Dr. Weaver looked as serious as Sofia had ever seen her though, so she felt bad for wanting to laugh at the woman. 

“It doesn’t have to, and of course, you don’t have to. I just think it would be good for you to get to know your past self so you can help shape your future self,” the beta explained, “and if you’d like you can even end it with a trademark saying or something nice.” 

Sofia didn’t say anything until she was prompted to take another look at the list, then she dubiously helped Dr. Weaver adjust it. 

“Uhh,” she said, looking at one of the ones towards the end, “I’m still a virgin.”

“It’s the first time you gave your body to someone Sofia,” the doctor corrected gently, “sex doesn’t have to mean a knot for you, it’s whatever you define it as.” 

Sofia nodded dumbly, never having heard that explanation of sex before, and went back to editing the list. 

The final product of the list was only a little longer than the one she’d originally been given, and Sofia left with the list in her pocket feeling much heavier than it had when she entered. 

Happy was waiting for her, as always, and he silently drove her back to the orphanage. She had a few hours until she needed to be ready, so she sat down on the floor in Ethan’s room as he did some homework and bore holes into the list with the intensity of her gaze. 

When her eyes began to ache from the strain, she settled on _the first time I got my period_. She remembered when she realized that there was blood in her panties and the fear that had set in when she realized that she hadn’t cut herself somehow. It felt as if it was a movie playing out before her own eyes, and she felt it would be the easiest to write. 

It was, and when she finished the final product was a little over half a page, but it was the ending that she had trouble with. 

As a last minute thought, she remembered how she’d been bullied that year, and how often she’d wished she could wake up and be someone else, so she wrote _I’m learning to love you, Sofia._ She made sure to put a little heart next to her signature.

“Okay so weird question,” Ethan piped up, still looking down at his laptop, “what the fuck am I supposed to say when someone’s like knuckle deep and all ‘whose pussy is this’ ‘cause I don’t know what to say?” 

Sofia laughed loudly, brushing tears off of her cheeks, and looked to where Ethan had stared down at her for help. 

She opened her mouth to answer, but wound up laughing so hard she fell onto her back, “Oh fuck, one time- one time someone asked me that and I said ‘its state property’ and she didn’t hear me.”

“Absolutely not,” Ethan said, standing up from his bed, “you’re being banished go shower so you can get fucked, I refuse to say that to anyone.” 

“You’re the one that asked,” she wheezed out through her laughter, but took the sheet and the letter anyways. She only had three hours until they’d get there, and she was too anxious to sit around anymore. 

She washed, scrubbed, and shaved every nook and cranny of her body, then made sure to moisturize with an unscented cream. Thankfully she’d gotten her period the week before, and had ended over the weekend, or else things would have been painfully awkward. 

Her room looked naked and bare since most of her stuff had already been moved into the tower, so there wasn’t much left for her to stuff into the single box on the floor. 

This time next year, there would probably be a freshman living in her room, and Sofia didn’t know how to feel about it. 

Laid out on her bare mattress was a sleeveless white dress that would end a bit before her knees, and see through white lace strapless teddy that she and Natasha had gotten in an alpha and omega two pack when they’d gone shopping on their first date. 

The lace was surprisingly not scratchy, and she pulled it on, then one of Ethan’s large shirts so she’d be able to do her hair without needing to put the dress on. 

She went back into Ethan’s room with the straightener, and he dramatically sighed before pulling out his own and sitting on her left side to help her speed up the process. 

Even with Ethan’s help, she was still nearly late since she’d taken the time to put on a little eyeliner and fill in her eyebrows a bit. Earlier that morning, Rose had come to drag her out of Ethan’s empty room so they could get their nails done, and now her fingers were styled with light purple almond shaped nails, and her toes had the same color. 

Ethan didn’t cry until Sofia stood in the doorway of her room, fully clothed and the last of her things in her hand. 

“I’m gonna miss you,” he whispered, burying his face in her shoulder while trying not to get tears on her dress. 

“Look,” she was fighting off the emotion that wanted to leech into her voice, “look I’ll find you, I promise, I’ll stay in contact I won’t even wait the two weeks, I promise as soon as I can.”

“As soon as you can,” Ethan echoed, then pulled away to wipe his own tears away. 

Sofia forced herself to turn her back on him and go into the elevator. She had less than ten minutes to walk over to the building with the conference rooms, but it wouldn’t stop her from saying goodbye to Jasmine and the pups. 

Predictably, even a two year old as smart and as verbal as Sammy didn’t understand, so he just carried on stroking invisible blond whisps away from Daniel’s forehead as Jasmine hugged her tightly. 

She wanted to apologize to the Den Alpha but found that the words wouldn’t leave her lips, so she just hoped that the other female understood. 

Happy was waiting in the lobby since the others were probably already in the meeting room and took the box so Sofia could walk straight there. 

It was a room lit with fluorescents that stung her eyes, and she stood impatiently next to her social worker as the woman went over the details again with one of Tony’s lawyers. 

After eons had passed, she placed her wrist into the machine that she was only used to seeing when it was time to get a bigger bracelet, and watched as the insignificant piece of metal that had ruled her life fell uselessly to the table. 

No one said anything as Tony nodded at her to walk around the table towards him. They’d all bite her, but as pack alpha it would be Tony’s teeth that left their mark first. 

His calloused hands were gentle as he brushed the hair off of her shoulder and away from her neck so that he could take off her collar. 

Natasha held up the collar’s box in offering, the picture of a perfect second, and waited patiently as he unclasped the collar and put it in the box. 

“This is gonna hurt,” he murmured quietly. His mouth was already hovering over the skin of her throat, and his words sent a shiver down her spine. 

“I know.” 

Tony’s teeth sunk into her.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the beginning guys. If you wanna follow over to part two, I've marked this story as part of a series so you can, if not thanks for being with me for this part of the ride.  
> Before I go I wanted to point out that weed isn't a bad thing, and neither is alcohol. They're both painted in a pretty bad light in this chapter, but as long as you don't use them to cope or avoid genuine emotion there isn't a problem.  
> Also, I'm not a therapist and have never gone to therapy, so this might be inaccurate, but I based the exercise she's doing on the meditation where you speak to your inner child.  
> I love you guys, if you've got any ideas or anything to share please let me know.


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